Polish Officials Visit U.S. Missile Defense Bases In Colorado and California

29 October 2007

Left to right: Miroslaw Kaminski, Walter Munyer, Slawomir Ziemianowicz, Steve Winkie, Wladyslaw Pedziwiatr, David Morris, Maciej Kobylinski, Mariusz Chmiel, Marcin Salata, Val Chlebowski

Six local government officials from the Slupsk region spent the week of October 24 in the United States visiting facilities related to the proposed deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in Poland.  The trip was organized by the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw in cooperation with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), and was designed to provide in-depth information to participants on how missile defense works currently and how a European-based missile defense would contribute to the protection of Europe and Poland.

The participants in the visit included Mr. Maciej Kobylinski, Mayor of Slupsk; Mr. Mariusz Chmiel, Wojt of Slupsk Gmina; Mr. Slawomir Ziemianowicz, Starosta of Slupsk County; Mr. Miroslaw Kaminski, Director, Pomeranian Agency for Regional Development; Mr. Wladyslaw Pedziwiatr, Chancellor, Higher Hanseatic School of Management; and Mr. Marcin Salata, Advisor to the Mayor of Slupsk.

The group visited the Missile Defense Integration and Operations Center at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as well as various operational components of the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) at Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, Colorado.  They also traveled to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where they met with MDA officials and visited operational and testing facilities of the U.S. missile defense system.  In addition, the group enjoyed a valuable opportunity to meet with civic and business leaders from the communities neighboring Vandenberg AFB, including the City of Lompoc and the County of Santa Barbara.