Photo Gallery


Eagle Photos
For complete story see June/July Eagle 2007
Staff Sgt. Mark Shane of the G6 takes safety seriously as he commutes to and from work on his bicycle.	After suiting up, the STS-117 crewmembers exit the Operations and Checkout Building to board the Astrovan, which will take them to launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. On the right (front to back) are astronauts Rick Sturckow, commander; Steven Swanson, Clayton Anderson and Jim Reilly, all mission specialists. On the left (front to back) are astronauts Lee Archambault, pilot; retired Army Col. Patrick Forrester (SMDC/ARSTRAT) and John “Danny” Olivas, both mission specialists.	Capt. Shawn Geib recieves his certification from the GMD Training and Excercise Operators Course from Col. Michael Yowell, commander of the 100th Missile Defense Brigade.
SMDC/ARSTRAT Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph C. Borja, left, and Lt. Gen. Kevin T. Campbell uncase and unfurl the unit colors during a ceremony on Redstone Arsenal, Ala., June 26.	The Space Shuttle Atlantis and its seven-member STS-117 crew head toward Earth-orbit and a scheduled link-up with the International Space Station. Liftoff from Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A occurred at 7:38 p.m. (EDT) on June 8. Atlantis docked with the orbital outpost on June 10 to begin a joint mission that will increase the complex’s power generation capability. Using the shuttle and station robotic arms and conducting three scheduled spacewalks, the astronauts installed another set of giant solar array wings on the station and retracted another array, preparing it for a future move.	Sgt. Patrick Mann treats one of his Soldiers for a “heat injury.” Mann was the 2006 SMDC/ARSTRAT Soldier of the Year and was selected as the 2007 SMDC/ARSTRAT NCO of the Year.
Sgt. Martin Jensen, center, digs deep as sponsor, Staff Sgt. Donald Amos, left, and Soldier candidate, Spc. Joseph Knece, do their best to keep up. Jensen and Knece were competing for the title of SMDC/ARSTRAT Soldier of the Year. Jensen won the title.	Sponsor, Sgt. Stephen Bahn, gives the ready signal for candidate, Spc. James Cox, at the M16 qualification range, during the 2007 U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command NCO and Soldier of the Year competition. Both serve with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 53rd Signal Battalion.	Spc. Ericka A.W. Melius, right, and one of her Soldiers search for a reporter who is being held “hostage” by “enemy combatants.” Melius was competing for the title of SMDC/ARSTRAT Soldier of the Year.
Michelle Barnett puts out a car fire in Tallahassee, Fla.	Staff Sgt. Anthonio M. Cady (left), platoon sergeant with the 1st Space Battalion, receives congratulations from Sgt. 1st Class Steven M. Adams, from the 1st Space Company, 1st Space Battalion, during the May 18 Armed Forces Luncheon and Awards Ceremony at The Broadmoor Hall in Colorado Springs, Colo. The luncheon was an event sponsored by the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce to recognize outstanding military members of the community. Colorado Springs area.	Guided by 216 attitude control motors, the Flexible Lightweight Agile Guided Experiment demonstrated the feasibility of kinetic energy intercepts at short ranges.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Chris Anzalone (left) presents the Program Management Award to Col. David Cook, the Ground Based Interceptor project manager, Ground Based Midcourse Defense joint program office.	Evelyne Villines Award recipient Hein Phan with awards presenter, Bob Sullivan, executive director of the NISH East Region. Phan was the facility specialist for SMDC/ARSTRAT headquarters when it was located in Arlington, Va. The award recognizes an individual with a disability who has taken his AbilityOne (formerly the JWOD) job and used his skills to gain greater independence by either being promoted into a management position with the non-profit agency (i.e. ServiceSource) or being hired by the federal government or in the commercial sector. Phan received the award May 30.	Col. Kendal W. Cunningham, acting chief of staff, completes his TRiPS before driving from the National Capital Region to Huntsville, Ala.
A grizzly bear outside Fort Greely’s fence. Although not common, the last Grizzly bear sighting was June 12.	Michelle Barnett assists a ‘victim’ at a mass casualty exercise on Kwajalein.	A 15-inch Rodman gun during the Civil War. The 15-inch gun was the largest muzzle loading gun adopted by the U.S. Army. It used 50 pounds of black powder to hurl a 450-pound solid iron ball.
An ERIS launch vehicle sits in its launch silo on Meck Island.	The HOE team poses for a post-launch celebration photograph.	Sgt. Joshua Osterkamp speaks with World War II veteran Charles Bradford during a reception prior to the luncheon.
HOE lifts off at Kwajalein Missile Range.	Artists concept of the HOE “radial net” which unfurled before intercept.	Comparison of the LoAD to the SPRINT
SMDC/ARSTRAT’s NCO of the Year Sgt. Patrick J. Mann and Soldier of the Year Sgt. Martin A. Jensen greet the World War II veterans during the reception.	World War II veterans from (left, front row) Lee Kilbourn, Norman Earley, Willie Wood, Charles Bradford, Jack Livingston and Thomas Stephens pose with SMDC/ARSTRAT Soldiers (from left, back row) Sgt. Martin Jensen, Sgt. Patrick J. Mann, Sgt. Jared English, Sgt. Joshua Osterkamp, Staff Sgt. Christopher Barber, Sgt. Nicholas Brown, Spc. David Knox, Sgt. Christopher Knoth and Sgt. Amber Starr during a reception held before the Hail to SMDC luncheon at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville, Ala., June 26.	Peacekeeper Reentry Vehicles descending over Kwajalein.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Edward Anderson makes comments to the audience at the SMDC/ARSTRAT Ball May 11 in Colorado Springs, Colo.	Revelers danced to the beat after the formal portion of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/U.S. Army Forces Strategic Command Ball May 11 in Colorado Springs.	Lt. Col. Lee Gizzi, commander 1st Space Battalion, accepts a brigade mission coin from Col. Timothy Coffin, commander 1st Space Brigade, as 1st Sgt. Douglas Bram from the battalion looks on during a recent deployment ceremony on Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Members of the 1st Space Battalion are deploying in theater as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom providing space-based products and capabilities to the warfighter on the ground.
Tom Ray teaches the principles of Lean Six Sigma to green belts during a class on Redstone Arsenal, Ala.	Camp O’Donnell Memorial Monument in the Philippines was built by the organization known as “The Battling Bastards of Bataan” to honor the American men who died at Camp O’Donnell, while prisoners of the Japanese.	Chewbacca, alias Spc. Michael Mellenthin, Sgt. Burch Parshall and an Imperial Storm Trooper portrayed by Capt. Tom Wiktorek celebrate Parshall’s reenlistment in a really out-of-this-world way.
Phase II of the Von Braun Complex on Redstone Arsenal, Ala., will soon be ready for occupants. Construction of the 234,000 square-foot building began in October 2005. There is a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for July 30. Employees of the Missile Defense Agency and some from SMDC/ARSTRAT will occupy the new building later this year.	Phase II of the Von Braun Complex on Redstone Arsenal, Ala., will soon be ready for occupants. Construction of the 234,000 square-foot building began in October 2005. There is a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for July 30. Employees of the Missile Defense Agency and some from SMDC/ARSTRAT will occupy the new building later this year.	Sitting at their consoles literally at the “tip of freedom’s spear,” Bravo Crew, 49th Missile Defense Battalion (Ground-based Midcourse Defense), operates the GMD portion of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. The system has been manned 24/7 since achieving limited defensive capability in September 2004. Located at Fort Greely, Alaska, the battalion is composed of more than 200 full-time Alaska Army National Guard Soldiers. Those 200 Soldiers make up nearly 10 percent of the state’s National Guard.
During a recent visit to the Missile Defense Complex at Fort Greely, Alaska, Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief, National Guard Bureau, and Lt. Gen. Clyde Vaughn, director, Army National Guard, met the Soldiers of the battalion charged with manning the missile defense system. Shown here, Blum and Vaughn listen as Staff Sgt. Russell Craig, weapons operator, Delta Crew, 49th Missile Defense Battalion, briefs his function on one of five fire direction crews.	Mark Hubbs explains to SMDC/ARSTRAT employees on break, the maintenance, loading and firing of three-pounder field gun. Guns like this were made of iron tubing weighing 350 pounds, were 48 inches long and had a 2.92 inch bore.	SMDC Anniversary Logo
Staff Sgt. Howard Andrews exhibits intense con-centration as he throws the first pitch during the Huntsville Stars — West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx game May 19 in Huntsville, Ala. Andrews, who lost a leg during combat in Iraq, has re-mained on active duty and serves as operations noncommissioned officer for the Missile Defense Agency’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Joint Program Office in Huntsville. He was recognized for his service during “Salute the Troops Night” at Joe Davis Stadium.	Tod Jordan stands ready in his Tennessee Volunteer Soldier “uniform” to answer questions from a viewer. A uniform was whatever clothing the man owned because he could not afford an actual uniform.	Stephen Hutson in full uniform of 1850’s U.S. Army Heavy Artillery representing an artilleryman at a coastal fort working cannon or musket, for anti-ship defense.
Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer welcomes Borja and his wife Nguyet to the community during a receiving line which followed the ceremony. More than 200 members of the community attended the ceremony.	From left, SMDC/ARSTRAT Soldier of the Year Sgt. Martin A. Jensen, Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph C. Borja, Lt. Gen. Kevin T. Campbell and SMDC/ARSTRAT Noncommissioned Officer of the Year Sgt. Patrick J. Mann cut the cake, decorated with the SMDC/ARSTRAT 50th anniversary logo.	Larry Capps, chair, Military Affairs Committee, Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County, provides opening comments for the Hail to SMDC luncheon.
More than 1,000 members of the local community attended the Hail to SMDC luncheon.	SMDC/ARSTRAT Lean Six Sigma green belts — Front Row Left to Right: Angela Jones, Lisa Vann, Debbie Mitchell, Beth Whitaker, Capt. Antoinette Fletcher, Terry Trussell, Teresa Brown, Rosalind Smith, Tara Ragan-Ward. Middle Row Left to Right: Mark Robbie, Barbara Dixon, Angela French, Edward Askew, Jeffery Shields, Capt. Tiffany Carr, Karen Butler, Maj. Roderic Spencer. Back Row Left to Right: Steven Lundberg, Sgt. 1st Class Wade Viner, Jeff Craver, Maj. Craig Holton, Robert Hill, Sgt. Michael Loper, Jeremy Collins, Lt. Col. Alex Robinson.	SMDC/ARSTRAT Soldiers are seated among the eight World War II veterans who attended the Hail to SMDC luncheon — from left, Sgt. Jared English, Norman Earley, Spc. David Knox and Thomas Stephens.
The fishermen of Echo Company proudly display their catch after a recent fishing trip. The 11 Soldiers caught more than 200 pounds of fish in five hours of fishing. Sgt. 1st Class Alfredo Martinez demonstrates the importance of basic rifle fundamentals when firing.	Bravo Company 1st Sgt. Robert Meredith and Sgt. Andrew Sanders cheer on the Headquarters Company tug of war team, telling them to pull harder during the championship match. Bravo Company Soldiers watch as fellow teammates spin around a bat with their heads down before making a wobbly run back to the start line.	Pfc. Scott Anderson shows off the 41-pound Mega-Mahi he caught during a recent fishing trip with fellow Echo Company Soldiers.