HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command showed Rocket City leaders how the command is helping defend the nation.
City of Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, City of Madison Mayor Paul Finley, Madison County Commissioner Dale Strong and Huntsville Madison County Chamber of Commerce representative Mike Ward received a USASMDC/ARSTRAT command overview at the Reagan Test Site Operations Center-Huntsville, or ROC-H, Sept. 7.
During the visit, SMDC leaders explained how the command develops and provides current and future global space, missile defense, and high altitude capabilities to the Army, joint forces, allies and partners, to enable multi-domain combat effects; enhance deterrence, assurance and detection of strategic attacks; and protect the nation.
"The tie between technology, defense and what the Huntsville area is able to provide is key to the defense of the country and keeping the world a safe place, and it all happens right here at SMDC," Battle said. "ROC-H is a technological marvel, and to have it sitting right here in our city shows that we have a lot of really smart people here in Huntsville."
After the overview, SMDC's high energy technology leaders gave an update on the command's efforts in the future of high energy lasers. They also briefed on the science and technology efforts at SMDC's Technical Center.
The visitors were then given a Team Redstone cyber initiatives brief to explain how SMDC is working with other Redstone Arsenal organizations to mitigate the threat of cyber attacks.
"The role SMDC and Team Redstone Cyber Executive Steering Group is playing with regard to local community outreach and cyber are a benefit to the community and we are working to tackle the hard problems of cyber," said Rob Goldsmith, SMDC Cyber Integration director. "SMDC has been in a leadership role in the community, when it comes to cyber in particular, and we continue to lead in this area. We believe that partnership is critical for us to succeed as a nation in the cyber domain."
With the visit ending, leaders took the time to point out how important it is for the command to engage with local leaders and remind them of SMDC's importance in the defense of the nation.
"This is eye-opening," Finley said. "This helps to be even more of an advocate for workforce development, which is critical for the mission SMDC does. I don't think you can ever have a clear understanding of the breadth of what this command has to do until you see all of the things that SMDC does for the country."
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