He declared it ‘‘our most solemn duty” to take every lawful and effective measure to protect the ‘‘home front” of the nation.

‘‘We are grateful that there has not been another attack on our soil since 9⁄11,” Bush said, adding it was ‘‘not for the lack of desire or effort on the part of the enemy.

‘‘In the past six years, we’ve stopped numerous attacks, including a plot to fly a plane into the tallest building in Los Angeles and another to blow up passenger jets bound for America over the Atlantic.

‘‘Dedicated men and women in our government toil day and night to stop the terrorists from carrying out their plans. These good citizens are saving American lives, and everyone in this chamber owes them our thanks.”

At nearby Fort Lesley J. McNair some of those dedicated men and women had come together for the evening as one element in the multilayered defense that assured the nation’s elected officials could safely carry out their Consti-tutional roles in the prescribed and time-honored manner.

On order, Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region stood up as Joint Task Force NCR to support the State of the Union as a National Special Security Event.

Working in partnership with the Fort Myer and Fort McNair military installations as well as federal, law enforcement and public safety agencies, and with the Secret Service as the lead federal agency, JTF-NCR marshaled unique military capability at Fort McNair should they be called upon for homeland defense or civil support needs.

‘‘We bring the appropriate levels of military support to bear in the National Capital Region or as immediately required to save lives, prevent human suffering or mitigate great property damage,” JTF Commander Maj. Gen. Richard J. Rowe Jr. said.

‘‘JTF-NCR stands ready to provide Department of Defense support to the President’s State of the Union address,” he noted. ‘‘We operate under National Response Framework and the National Incident Management System. When requested and when directed, we provide the special skills and special equipment to assist the local and state emergency response agencies and civil authorities, including consequence management operations.”

Response capabilities of DoD support were not needed, and the JTF-NCR requested permission to stand down shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday morning.

The mobilization of the support began to get underway on Sunday, the headquarters moving to JTF status that morning. On Monday afternoon operational elements began falling into position, the Army’s 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), the 12th Aviation Battalion, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Marine Corps Chemical, Biological Incident Response Force, with other DoD support personnel, medical included.

Throughout the operation, the Joint Operations Center on Fort McNair was swelled with interagency, National Guard, and service component liaison officers, where close monitoring and situational awareness of the entire NCR area of responsibility was visible – land, air and maritime.

The live broadcast, watched by some 40 million Americans across the country, was seen also by the readied forces of JTF-NCR.

‘‘We were honored to have the support of the president,” Lt. Cmdr. Gerard Jackson, the U.S. Coast Guard liaison to the JTF, said.

‘‘The homeland security mission is not new to the Coast Guard,” he noted, harking back to the 211-year history of that branch of the armed forces, one that now falls, along with the Secret Service, under the Depart-ment of Homeland Security. ‘‘We’re proud to work with the JTF⁄DOD military team in support of the Secret Service and the Capital Police,” he said.