Command has the assigned role as the Department of Defense Advocate for Arctic Capability . (3) Within the Office of the Secretary of Defense, there is no single person directly responsible for the coordination of Arctic security issues and, while the United States Northern Command is the Advocate for Arctic Capabilities , the January 2017 report of the Department of Defense entitled Report to Congress on Strategy to Protect United States National Security Interests in the Arctic Region was largely written from within the United States European Command. (b) Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Arctic Region (1) In general There is a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Arctic Region. The Deputy Assistant Secretary shall be appointed by the Secretary of Defense from among individuals who have an extensive understanding of security environment in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, current United States capabilities for the Arctic and Antarctic regions and future gaps in such capabilities, and other appropriate policy matters relating to the Arctic and Antarctic regions. (2) Reporting The Deputy Assistant Secretary shall report to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. (3) Duties Subject to the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, the Deputy Assistant Secretary shall assist the Assistant Secretary by overseeing the following: (A) Advocacy for United States national security interests in the Arctic region, including United States citizens, territory, freedom of navigation, and economic and trade interests. (B) Mitigation of operational seams between relevant geographic and functional combatant commands in order to improve unity of effort among the combatant commands with responsibility for the Arctic region. (C) Identification of any capability gaps and resource gaps in the Arctic region and the formulation of plans to