http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1218356129318590.xml&coll...

Birmingham, Alabama native retiring as missile defense agency chief
Director put together plan to shoot down spy satellite
Sunday, August 10, 2008
KENT FAULK
News staff writer

About a week before Christmas last year, Missile Defense Agency
Director Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering III got a call from the
National Reconnaissance Office director. The NRO director asked
Obering to go to a secure phone line.

The office needed help with a problem. One of its spy satellites was
out of control and it had 1,000 pounds of toxic fuel in a tank NRO
officials thought would survive re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Officials with the spy agency thought the fuel would kill people even
if it landed in a sparsely populated area, Obering said.

With the help of Missile Defense Agency workers, many of them in
Huntsville, the general put together a plan to shoot down the
satellite with a missile interceptor from a ship.

"It was extremely exciting. The folks did all of this in six weeks and
we were extremely successful," Obering said.
[snip]