Team March 101: The Air and Marine Operations Center or “AMOC”

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courtesy photo/AMOC

Located right here at March Field is The Air and Marine Operations Center or AMOC, a facility within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Air and Marine Operations (AMO). It is an international, multi-domain federal law enforcement center. Established in 1988 at March Air Reserve Base, the facility is a state-of-the-art law enforcement operations and domain awareness center that focuses on suspicious general aviation and non-commercial maritime activities in the Western Hemisphere.

The AMOC monitors air and marine movements within and around the United States. They conduct air and marine surveillance operations, providing direct coordination to AMO; CBP law enforcement officers performing interdiction missions; and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies conducting criminal investigations. The AMOC also coordinates operations with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and the governments of Mexico, Canada, and the Bahamas.

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the national demand for the AMOC’s unique abilities increased. In response, the AMOC expanded by advancing its capabilities and increasing its partnerships. The AMOC applies sophisticated technology to detect, identify, track, and direct the interdiction of suspect aviation and maritime threats. The center integrates data from more than 430 domestic and international radars and sensors coupled with extensive law enforcement and intelligence databases and communications networks to coordinate a law enforcement response to suspect aviation and maritime activities throughout the United States. Its command and control system provides a single display that is capable of tracking more than 85,000 individual targets and they provide feeds from their system to more than 140 government partner across the country.   

The AMOC hosts up to 2,500 personnel annually from throughout the Department of Homeland Security, other federal agencies and international partners with complementary and interdependent missions. The AMOC has two auxiliary facilities; the Caribbean Air and Marine Operations Center, which focuses on suspect aircraft and vessels in the Caribbean area of responsibility; and the Capital Regional Unit, which supports air security and defense operations in the National Capital Region of Washington, D.C.

“General Muncy and the 452nd AMW are terrific partners,” said AMOC Executive Director, Tony Crowder. “AMOC enjoys unparalleled support from ‘Team March.’ Congress has chosen to expand AMOC, in part, due to the amenities present on March Air Reserve Base,” Crowder said. “A larger facility, and more personnel in the near future, are part of the payoff from the ‘One Team’ approach.”