Volume 6, Number 3 - Space and Missile Defense Command - U.S. ...

Soldiers engaged in Operations Enduring
Freedom and Iraqi Freedom face the same
battlefield questions as their predecessors:
Where is the enemy? Can they see me?
Where are other friendly forces? What does
the ground look like on the other side of a
hill? SMDC/ARSTRAT works across the Joint
community to provide capabilities that can
best answer these tactical questions.
Historical Feature
Nation’s Ballistic Missile Defense System spent the
2006 July Fourth holiday on full alert. Their actions
were a tribute to years of effort, going back to 1945
when the Army’s Project Thumper (high-altitude
defense against aircraft) examined how Allied forces
could defend against Germany’s new V-2 rockets.
Army Soldiers, as part of the joint team in support
of commander, U.S. Northern Command, staff the
Nation’s first line of defense against an intercontinental
ballistic missile launch toward our shores. Soldiers
from SMDC/ARSTRAT’s 100th Missile Defense
Brigade (Ground-based Midcourse Defense or GMD),
headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., and
its 49th Missile Defense Battalion (GMD) located at
Fort Greely, Alaska, operate the ground-based portion
of the integrated Ballistic Missile Defense System.
These units, manned almost entirely by Army National
Guard Soldiers, provide the battle management and
fire control functions as well as site security.
SMDC/ARSTRAT, as the Army’s global missile
defense integrator, in partnership with the Missile
Defense Agency (MDA), USSTRATCOM, and the
Geographic combatant commands, is intensely
engaged in ensuring the successful deployment of the
Ground-based Midcourse Defense component of the
Ballistic Missile Defense System. We are also working
with other members of the Ballistic Missile Defense
System team regarding expansion of the current
architecture and a future European-based site.
Potential adversaries have become more aware of
the tremendous advantages the U.S. military derives
from the use of Space-based assets. Advances in
technology and the changing nature of the threat have
made the effective use of Space crucial to our success.
Although the U.S. has overwhelming Space capabilities,
U.S. dominance in Space is not guaranteed. Potential
adversaries are quickly developing adaptive strategies,
tactics, and capabilities to exploit our perceived
vulnerabilities and to counter or mitigate our strengths.
The rapid growth in global Space capabilities increases
potential adversaries’ ability to monitor our forces and
negate our advantages in Space.
The Chinese test of an anti-satellite missile in
January 2007 against one of their aging weather
satellites in Low Earth Orbit highlights the potential
vulnerability of our own satellites to attack.
Additionally, the debris field created by the destruction
of this Chinese satellite produced thousands of
fragments that will keep posing a physical hazard for
decades to our satellites and those of the international
community.
A Legacy and Current Mission to Support
Army and Joint Warfighters
The commanding general, SMDC/ARSTRAT also
serves as commander of the Joint Functional Component
Command for Integrated Missile Defense (JFCC
IMD) in support of commander, USSTRATCOM.
The JFCC IMD allows USSTRATCOM to focus
on strategic-level integration and advocacy for one
of their critical Unified Command Plan assigned
missions. The JFCC IMD is responsible for planning,
integrating, and coordinating global missile defense
systems and operations to provide an optimized
layered missile defense system against missiles of all
ranges and in all stages of flight. SMDC/ARSTRAT
4F
Army Space Journal
2007 Summer Edition