Lompoc Record June 13, 2004
Reagan's vision of 'defense shield' to be deployed
By Janene Scully - Staff Writer
As the U.S. military gets set to bring a missile defense system on line this year, the nation paused to mourn Ronald Reagan, the man who first championed it.
The Missile Defense Agency is poised to deploy within months interceptors in Alaska and at Vandenberg Air Force Base to defend against a limited long-range missile attack.
Called the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Segment - or "Star Wars" by its critics - it is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles fired by rogue nations. That system is one part of a "layered defense" designed to protect against missile attacks at various stages.
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Two decades ago, President Reagan envisioned a world where effective defenses against ballistic missile attack would protect Americans and their allies. Reagan's dream is becoming reality "through the dedication and hard work" of military, civilian and contractor personnel, Missile Defense Agency officials said in a statement released last week.
"President Reagan knew that American minds, technology and hard work could solve the many scientific and technical challenges involved with fielding effective missile defenses," the Missile Defense Agency said in a written statement.
"While many challenges lie ahead, we share the optimism and confidence expressed by President Reagan that free people could 'live secure in the knowledge that their security did not rest upon the need to instantly retaliate against a missile attack, that we could intercept and destroy ballistic missiles before they reached our own soil or that of our allies ... wouldn't it be better to save lives than to avenge them?'"
Despite the passing of decades, Reagan's connection to the modern-day missile defense system remains strong.
"He's the one who issued the challenge to scientists and engineers to develop a means of intercepting and destroying a ballistic missile before it hit its target," said MDA spokesman Rick Lehner.
Critic John Pike from Virginia-based think tank GlobalSecurity.org phrased it a different way.
"It's all his fault," Pike said. "He did it. He's the author of it ... Basically, today's missile defense is designed to deal with today's perceived threats, the same way that missile defense 20 years ago was designed to deal with the threats perceived at that time."
Reagan's plan was called the Strategic Defense Initiative. Critics dubbed it "Star Wars" and likened it to "hitting a bullet with a bullet." Generically, it was a space-based shield against weapons.
Today, defense officials embrace the phrase, trumpeting the system's ability to "hit a bullet with a bullet."
"Most of the elements of today's missile defense program can trace origins to the Strategic Defense Initiative of 20 years ago," Pike said.
With Reagan's name all but synonymous with missile defense, Pike wouldn't be surprised to see the late president's name wind up on a completed system.
"How could they avoid it? They've named everything else after him," he said, noting that there are organizations dedicated to renaming much after Reagan. "I have no doubt that it will be the Ronald Reagan Memorial Peace Shield."
Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., already launched the first salvo, suggesting the Missile Defense Agency or even the Pentagon bear Reagan's name.
Pentagon officials said they will put the first system interceptor in the ground at Fort Greely, Alaska, next month. Vandenberg's first interceptor should be in place by November, with another expected to be installed by year's end.
President Bush ordered an initial capability by 2005 with four interceptors placed at Vandenberg and 16 in Alaska.
"The missile defense investments of four administrations and 10 Congresses are paying off," former MDA Director Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish told a House subcommittee. "We are capitalizing on our steady progress since the days of the Strategic Defense Initiative and will present to our combatant commanders by the end of 2004 an initial missile defense capability to defeat near-term threats of greatest concern."
Is that date achievable? Critics have their doubts about both the technology and the effectiveness of the plan.
"It's actually kind of surprising that we could be spending so much money on this thing and have so little to show for it, just in a raw numerical sense," Pike said. "It's not a question so much of it won't work because it hasn't been tested. It won't work because we don't have enough of it."
