October 25, 2003 :: Army News Service :: News
In anticipation of the Alaska Ground-Based missile defense system’s activation at the end of 2004, the first missile defense brigade has been activated at Peterson Air Force Base, in Colorado. Composed of both National Guardsmen and regular Army soldiers, the brigade will integrate the Fort Greely, Alaska system with the overall tracking systems of Northern Command based in Cheyenne mountain.
The comments of Lt. Gen. Joseph M. Cosumano Jr., the commanding general of U.S. Space and Missile Defense Command, are particularly noteworthy, as they reflect the bankruptcy of mutually assured destruction: “The missile defense strategy of the 20th century was largely based on the concept that rational countries won’t attack each other. We’ve learned in the 21st Century that that those theories don’t apply anymore. Hostile states, and even non-state hostile groups, now either have or are working on long-range missiles. This activation today of an important part of our homeland defense strategy allows us to defend against that threat.”
(Article)
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