ROME, N.Y. (AP) — The central New York military facility that's part of the North American air defense system is getting a new commander.

The state Division of Military and Naval Affairs says Col. Emil Filkorn of the New York Air National Guard takes command of the Eastern Air Defense Sector during a ceremony being held Friday morning at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome.

The facility is a NORAD sector headquarters that's responsible for the air defense of 1 million square miles east of the Mississippi River.

Filkorn is a Buffalo-area native who graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy in 1990. He entered the Air Force in 1991 and later transitioned to the Air National Guard as a full-time officer.

He lives with his wife and two children in Cazenovia in central New York.

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