Military and security expert Daniel Wasserbly introduces the elite unit tasked with protecting the nation from long-range weapons of mass destruction.

Comprised of just three hundred soldiers, the United States Army?s 100th Missile Defense Brigade and 49th Missile Defense Battalion utilize sophisticated and cutting-edge technology to monitor the skies and seas surrounding the country and shield three hundred million Americans against any potential nuclear threat. Named for the number of Spartan warriors who defended Greece at the Battle of Thermopylae, these vigilant individuals endure rigorous, always-evolving regimens to maintain peak efficiency in the event of an actual nuclear strike.

Assigned to extraordinary locations at Fort Greely, Alaska and Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, the 300 are responsible for the highest levels of homeland security. They not only maintain a never-ending watch via radar and sensor arrays, but receive continuous training in operating advanced interceptors designed to home in on and destroy in-flight ballistic missiles. It?s a complex?and occasionally unreliable?defense system that scientists and engineers are always improving and upgrading.

With unprecedented access to the highly classified strategic nerve centers of U.S. Northern Command in Cheyenne Mountain, years of research, and dozens of exclusive interviews with normally inaccessible missile crews, Wasserbly reveals the incredible true story behind the 300?s essential defense operations.

Describes the establishment of the 100th Missile Defense Brigade, an operating unit at Fort Greely in Alaska and Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, tasked with being prepared to destroy an inflight ballistic missile. 50,000 first printing. Illustrations.

"For the first time ever, a groundbreaking account of the individuals who operate America's super-advanced missile defense system. Since the dawn of the rocket age, nations have been powerless to defend themselves against incoming attacks. For decades, not even the mighty fortress of the NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, buried deep under a granite shield inside Cheyenne Mountain, could stop enemy missiles from raining down on American cities. In September 2004, that changed. For the first time, a space-aged unit of missile defense wizards, the 100th Missile Defense Brigade, was established as an operating unit at Fort Greely in Alaska and Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. Armed with advanced interceptor weapons, this unique outfit took on themost difficult feat in the long history of weapons engineering: to destroy an inflight ballistic missile. Under the leadership of missile crew directors like Richard Michalski, a lieutenant colonel with the Colorado National Guard, the small brigade-just300 soldiers-is tasked with defending 300 million Americans. They stand watch in desolate missile fields in the farthest reaches of Alaska. In Colorado, their engineering brain trust struggles to perfect the highly advanced and at times unreliable missile technology of the Missile Defense Agency. With unprecedented access, years of research, and dozens of exclusive interviews, author Dan Wasserbly has peeled back the layers of secrecy. For the first time, The 300 tells the true story of this secretive yet essential unit of homeland defenders."--