KTVA:
When it comes to defending our country during a missile strike, it turns out Alaska’s specific role is on the front lines.
“I am incredibly, overwhelmingly proud of the folks at Fort Greely,” Commander of the 100th Missile Defense Brigade Col. Kevin Kick said. “Most of us in the continental don’t know what folks up there have to deal with day to day. We have 300 folks up there that play a key part in making sure we are ready. Those folks at Fort Greely are really the tip of the spear. They are out there every day where the GBIs (Ground-based interceptors) are in the ground, making sure we are ready. They are incredibly important and I would hope everybody in the state of Alaska is proud of those soldiers.”
Activated in 2004, the 100th Missile Defense Brigade is the U.S. military’s only missile defense brigade and the only unit tasked with defending the homeland against Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) attacks. Using a sophisticated fire control system supported by sea, land and space-based sensors, and a missile-launched Exo-Atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), they can track, intercept and destroy the nuclear warhead of an incoming ICBM in its mid-course of flight outside the earth’s atmosphere.
