REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. - Industrial College of the Armed Forces students visited the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command at Redstone Arsenal on March 24.
During the visit three Army, five Air Force, five Navy, one Marine, two Department of Defense and one State Department personnel, all at lieutenant colonel and colonel or equivalent level, received a responsive space overview and learned more about the command's mission.
The ICAF students toured the Concepts Analysis Lab, including the SMDC-ONE operations station and were given a demonstration of the GATR inflatable satellite dish antenna. They received numerous other briefings, as well as touring of the Dynetics machine shop.
"We received many kudos from the team for our presentations and for hosting their group," said Rich White, USASMDC/ARSTRAT Technology Center. "They said that they have visited a lot of space organizations and facilities, and ours was the most upbeat and dynamic."
Students talked about their time visiting SMDC facilities and how seeing the ongoing efforts gave them a better understanding of the installation and how it supports national defense.
"The current efforts involving the emerging space technologies and research being conducted interested me most," said Col. Bill Thewes, ICAF student. "As a member of the U.S. Army, it is good to learn about what role the Army has in the U.S. space program."
One of the ICAF instructors told about the importance of the visit to Redstone Arsenal and how it will give the students a greater feel for what SMDC accomplishes in its support for troops serving around the world.
"The Industrial College of the Armed Forces, a senior service War College, is unique in that the capstone event in the curriculum is the study of strategic industries. Our students, senior military officers (O-5/O-6) and civilian counterparts select one of 21 strategic industries to study during the spring semester," said retired Col. Scott A. Loomer, Ph.D., Industrial College of the Armed Forces Senior Scientist for Geospatial Science, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. "Each study team is a group of 15-16 students led by a faculty cadre. One of the strategic industries studied is space. The 2011 ICAF Space Industry Study team was the group hosted by the command.
"The arrangements made by Rich White and the briefings provided the group with a good understanding of the function and projects of SMDC," Loomer added. "The demonstrations by Mark Ray and Gabe Bassett, plus an intern with the inflatable antenna, were also very good. Additionally, the trip to Dynetics was an added bonus and provided useful information on how SMDC arranges and develops its projects."
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