No Airplanes For The 21st Space Wing Headquartered At Peterson Air Force Base

Anders Nelsona.nelson@krdo.com

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE – When the words Air Force Base come to mind most people think on airplanes, but one wing headquartered here at Peterson Air Force Base does not have any.

The 21st Space Wing is located on 5 different countries, and crosses over 13 different time zones. The 21st Space Wing has 3 core missions: missile warning, missile defense and space control.

Col. Stephen Whiting is in command of the 21st Space Wing and explains the importance of space control, “we have assets that track 22-thousand man made objects in space. While also allowing us to use our space when and where we need and deny that capability to the adversary.”

With the amount of space garbage increasing every year it is becoming more important to track all of it to keep our working satellites working.

The 21st Space Wing has 6 missile-warning locations around the world and 3 missile defense bases in order to protect the United States against any attacks. 17 years ago the 21st Space Wing started monitoring the skies and from the looks of it they will continue to protect our country for years to come. Col. Whiting says that, “the 21st Space Wing is proud to support the entire United States war effort and our full partners in the joint fight and are proud to be here in Colorado Springs, as we get to operate Peterson Air Force Base.”