NORAD proposes reducing the Duluth base's on-call time because of Defense Department cuts.

​A proposed one percent reduction in the Defense Department's more than half-trillion-dollar budget could result in a mission reduction for Duluth's Air National Guard base.

The base is currently on call around-the-clock. Fighter jets are prepared to scramble and intercept any air threat, including hijacked planes. But, needing to trim their budget, the North American Aerospace Defense Command is proposing that the Duluth base scale back its on-call hours.

According to the Duluth News Tribune, the mission change would cost the Duluth unit 71 of the roughly 450 full-time jobs it now provides.

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