One more Honor

Four silos dedicated to the US Missile Defense System at Vandenberg AFB will be formally renamed on Monday in honor of former President Ronald Reagan:

The Pentagon will formally dedicate missile defense facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base as the “Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site” during a ceremony Monday.

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan will unveil a bust and plaque in honor of the late president at a site overlooking the missile defense complex on North Base.

Also expected to attend are Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, former California governor and U.S. senator Pete Wilson, and Senator Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

Air Force Lt. General Henry “Trey” Obering, Missile Defense Agency director, announced the plan to honor the 40th president “for his commitment to advance the development of missile defense technologies to protect and defend the United States, its deployed forces and our allies and friends from ballistic missile attack,” the military said in a statement.

During his term as president, Reagan noted the lack of a system to protect the United States and implored scientists and engineers to devise a method to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles before they could hit American targets.

Which begs the question--since I drive right by the base on my way to work--how much will this foul up traffic on a Monday morning!?

A useful index of thoughts on the Missile Defense concept is available here.