1) President Ronald Reagan first learned about technology related to missile defense during a visit to the Livermore Labs while governor of California. Reagan stated that he came into office with a decided prejudice against the U.S.-Soviet agreement on nuclear missiles. He was simply not comfortable with “mutually assured destruction” as a means of theoretical security.

In true maverick fashion, Reagan proposed a simple solution: What if we could destroy adversary’s missiles as soon as they left their silos? So began the Strategic Defense Initiative, known as SDI. Reagan was fond of the phrase “peace through strength,” meaning that defensive and offensive military superiority is the best way to ensure American’s safety. Reagan’s “Address to the Nation on Defense and National Security” emphasized his desire to increase America’s security through technological superiority, rendering the threat of missile attack obsolete. Although Reagan’s vision for space-based missile defense was halted in 1993, many believe that the United States and its leaders must revisit this crucial domain of defense.

2) Perhaps best known as the “father of the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Programs,” Gen. Bernard A. Schriever headed a small group of officers who went to Los Angeles in July 1954 to organize and form what has since become the Air Force’s ballistic and systems divisions under the Air Force Systems Command. AFSC has produced such ballistic missiles as Thor, Atlas, Titan and Minuteman.

Schriever was a firm believer in a strong defense as a deterrent, spearheading the development of long-range missiles capable of launching the military’s communication satellites. In 1963, he directed Project Forecast, one of the most comprehensive long-range assessments of the military’s science and technology capabilities. Having been credited with ushering the United States into the space age, Schriever retired in 1966 after 33 tears in the military. In 1998, Falcon Air Force Base near Colorado Springs was renamed Schriever Air Force Base, the first time a base was named after a living individual.

3) U.S. Sen. Malcolm Wallop was elected in 1976 and held his seat for 18 years, retiring in 1994. Graduating from Yale University in 1954, Wallop served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army. In 1978, Wallop was the first elected official to propose a space-based missile defense system, a program that later became part of the Strategic Defense Initiative.

A pioneer, admired by friends and colleagues in the Senate, Wallop recognized that the ABM Treaty should not be an impediment to ballistic missile defense. Wallop’s strategic vision and leadership was crucial in drawing Congress’ attention to this most important issue. Today, we need more leaders like Wallop to ensure missile defense receives the attention it deserves.

4) Ambassador Henry F. Cooper’s accomplishments are diverse, but his contributions to missile defense are particularly noteworthy. Cooper was appointed by Reagan to serve as assistant director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, responsible for keeping the Soviets engaged in bilateral negotiations. Cooper also served as the former head of the Pentagon’s missile defense organization and is a long-standing supporter and led the charge to reinvigorate Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative.

The author of numerous publications, Cooper also chaired the 1996 Missile Defense Study Team sponsored by The Heritage Foundation. Cooper held the position of chairman of High Frontier, a non-profit organization that actively supported the deployment of an effective defense against ballistic missiles, most notably during the 1980s and 1990s.

5) In 1941, Edward Teller became one of the first physicists to be recruited to the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos and was the intellectual force behind the development of the H-bomb. Yet Teller was not simply “offensive” in character. He started thinking about missile defense as early as 1945. Teller’s first major success in advocating for missile defense was his encounter with then-Gov. Ronald Reagan at the weapons lab at Livermore. Teller is considered by many to be the chief inspiration behind Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative.

Teller was quoted in the National Review as saying, “Missile defense is for national survival, and it’s more important than defense against terrorism.” Teller’s comments are telling, what’s more, missile defense and defense against terrorism may be more closely linked than many would think.