Gates meets Soldiers on front lines of US missile defense
By American Forces Press Service
June 4, 2009
FORT GREELY, Alaska: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates stepped down inside a missile silo here yesterday …
Fort Greely, about 100 miles into the Alaskan interior from Fairbanks, is home to one of two ground-based, mid-course defense units housing missile interceptors on the West Coast. The other is at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. …
“We have a good capability here,” Gates said after a tour of the site. “I think knowing that we have this and that it becomes more effective in each passing day should be a source of comfort to the American people in an uncertain world.”
Sixteen interceptors are in the ground here, with plans to add two more. Combined with those at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the United States will have 30 such interceptor systems. More could be added if needed, Gates said.
In a brief meeting with reporters, Gates said he has planned nearly $1 billion in the 2010 budget for the development of ground-based interceptors. The budget also allows for developing other missile technologies that protect troops in the field, ships at sea and provide theater defense, he added. …
www.defencetalk.com/gates-meets-soldiers-on-front-lines-of-us-missile-defense-19485/
