Pentagon officials and former First Lady Nancy Reagan will formally dedicate facilities for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., in honor of former President Ronald Reagan. According to the Lompoc (Calif.) Record, USAF Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, Missile Defense Agency Director, announced the plan, saying it would honor Reagan for his commitment to advancing missile defense technology. Vandenberg is slated to be the site for four missile interceptors, the first of which MDA installed in December 2004.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall doesn’t see great value in trying to break the Sentinel ICBM program off as a separate budget item the way the Navy has with its ballistic-missile submarine program, saying such a move wouldn’t create any new money for the Air Force to spend on other…