300 People Defending 300 million, A tour of Fort Greely's missile defense facility.

FORT GREELY, Alaska (KTUU) - Alaskans are used to road trips, and for this one, we're starting in Fairbanks: Drive past the candy canes near the Santa Claus House in North Pole, keep going down the Richardson Highway beyond the jets just inside the gate at Eielson Air Force Base, then follow the winding road past Salcha, and when you make it to giant metal sculptures of mosquitoes at Delta, you'll almost be at Fort Greely.
It's here, in the shadows of the mountains, that about 300 people are tasked with defending the country against an intercontinental ballistic missile attack.

"This has always been and continues to be a no fail mission," said Col. Kevin Kick, the commander of the 100th Missile Defense Brigade.

Channel 2 was invited to Fort Greely along with a group of other reporters and photographers to see how the teams here would protect the country from an attack.

One of 10 ground-based midcourse defense system teams practiced a drill where they'd stop an attack on Los Angeles. The drill was successful.

The teams work 12 hour days, 4 days a week.

"You say pressure, for us that responsibility is what drives us," Capt. Joseph Radke of Echo team said, "it's really what allows us to put in the time that we do up here."

There are three fields here with missiles that could be launched during an ICBM attack with a fourth coming on line soon.

Security here is extremely tight. Military police patrol constantly. The weather conditions can be extreme with high winds and temperatures that plunge to 20 degrees below zero.

"Our mission is essential to the American people and we are proud to be the 300 defending the 300 million," Kick said.