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Danish and Greenlandic Parliaments visit Thule

Story ID 03-087
April 11, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Air Force Space Command News Service
By 1st Lt. Jeremy Eggers
821st Air Base Group Public Affairs

THULE AIR BASE, Greenland - Danish and Greenlandic parliament members visited Thule's early-warning radar site April 6 to prepare for a hearing on U.S. missile defense plans.

The public hearing in Greenland's capital, Nuuk, April 7 focused on a U.S. proposal to include the 12th Space Warning Squadron's Ballistic Missile Early-Warning System, known as BMEWS, as a sensor in the overall national missile defense architecture.

Debate has been ongoing in Denmark and Greenland since President Bush's Dec. 17 announcement to begin fielding initial missile defense capabilities in 2004-2005 -- capabilities that would include Thule's BMEWS site. The United Kingdom has already approved the use of the BMEWS site at RAF Fylingdales in northern England; Denmark is expected to vote on the proposal in May.

"We have different views on this issue," said Danish Parliament Defense Committee chairman Helge Adam Moller, addressing fellow parliamentarians visiting Thule. "I don't know what your decision will be, but I know it will be a wise (informed) one."

The parliamentarians received a first-hand look at the inner-workings of Thule's radar and the men and women who operate it. Briefings included the history of the BMEWS radar as well as information regarding current upgrades to the circa 1970's technology used at the site.

"The Thule radar has been a critical missile warning and space surveillance sensor for over 40 years," said Lt. Col. Shawn Barnes, 12th Space Warning Squadron commander. "We look forward to continued close cooperation with our Danish and Greenlandic allies as they consider the U.S. proposal to upgrade BMEWS Site I and include it in a missile defense architecture."

This visit is important to the public debate, said Jensine Berthelsen, chairperson for Greenland's foreign policy committee. "I feel better informed now that I've seen the site," she said.

Thule's BMEWS site continues a 40-year mission of early warning for ballistic missile attacks. Furthermore, the site also assists with tracking nearly 8,500 objects -- some no larger than a softball -- orbiting the Earth.

Thule is also home to Detachment 3, 22nd Space Operations Squadron; the detachment is one of eight sites in the Air Force Satellite Control Network. The network is responsible for performing telemetry, tracking and commanding operations for more than 120 Department of Defense satellites.

Along with briefings regarding the base's mission, the parliamentarians toured the Dundas peninsula, an area of land adjacent to and formerly part of the Thule Defense Area. A memorandum of agreement signed Feb. 20 in Nuuk marked the return of Dundas to Greenland Home Rule.

Thule's economic impact on Greenland is nearly $17 million (140 million Danish kroner) per year. The base also operates a vocational education program for Greenlanders and conducts various community programs with the city of Qaanaaq, located 75 miles north of the base.

"We are a good neighbor and look forward to further developing our relationship with the surrounding communities," said Col. Lou Christensen, 821st Air Base Group commander.