Flights to practice intercept and identification procedures are scheduled Thursday off the coast of Seattle and British Columbia's Vancouver Island. 

Flights for the same exercises also scheduled to take place between Anchorage, Alaska, and the Kobuk Valley in Alaska, and between Aberdeen, S.D., and Minneapolis. 

NORAD is a U.S.-Canadian command responsible for defending the skies over both countries. 

It also monitors sea traffic approaching their shores. Its headquarters are at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. 

Officials say NORAD has conducted exercise flights in the U.S. and Canada since launching Operation Noble Eagle, the command's response to 9/11.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)