Guardian Challenge 2005 canceled

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PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFPN) --  Guardian Challenge, the Air Force’s annual space and missile competition, has been canceled for 2005 to allow Airmen to focus on real-world deployments and ease budget constraints, Air Force Space Command officials said.

“It takes a lot of manpower and resources to support an event like Guardian Challenge,” said Col. John Stocker, Guardian Challenge competition commander. “We need to be sensitive to the demands we place on our people and weapons systems. Given the budget and ongoing overseas commitments, we feel it is prudent to cancel this year’s event.”

The 38th meeting of America’s space and missile warfighters was planned for May 1 to 6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The event is the world’s largest test of space and missile warfighting skills outside of real-world operations.

The primary goal of the competition is to make better warfighters of the command’s Airmen, Colonel Stocker said. Intense training precedes the event at each participating base, resulting in many lessons learned.

“While Guardian Challenge provides a great opportunity to test our readiness and warfighting capabilities, the nation’s space and missile warfighters are fully tasked,” said General Lance W. Lord, AFSPC commander. “We discover new tactics, techniques and procedures every year at Guardian Challenge, and it’s a huge motivational event for our people. However, given today’s fiscal and operations environment, our focus is on ensuring we meet our day-to-day missions in providing combat capabilities and efforts to the joint warfighters. Canceling this year’s competition is the right thing to do.”

The event, originally called “Curtain Raiser,” began in 1967. It became “Olympic Arena” in 1969 and Guardian Challenge in 1994. It has been canceled twice before for similar reasons -- in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam War and in 2003.