Alabama Congressman Terry Everett was a visionary in the age of American missile defense

Duncan Hunter was a Republican member of the House of Representatives from California’s 52nd, 45th and 42nd districts from 1981-2009. He was Chaiman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee during the 108th and 109th Congress. 

When, a few days ago, a hail of Iranian drones and missiles descended on Israel, the onslaught was met by interceptors which destroyed the vast majority of attacking systems in mid-air.

The defensive array employed by Israel consisted of such systems as “the Iron Dome” and the “Arrow” anti-missile system. Simply, shooting incoming missiles out of the air requires good radar, space assets, and high-performance missiles.

All of this relates to my great colleague, the former Chairman of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee, Terry Everett.

Terry Everett was a combination of common sense and uncommon vision. When he took the Chairmanship of “Strategic”, he more than any other congressman realized the missile age had fully dawned. He worked the whole system … space, missile technology, intelligence, surveillance … all coming together when the defensive missile goes up to meet an enemy missile traveling faster than a 30:06 bullet.

“Shooting ‘em down” is the key to survival in this missile age. Today, our ships deploy anti-missile systems and we have ground based interceptors to provide limited defenses against ICBMs.

Lots of work needs to be done. What has been done was vastly contributed to by Terry Everett.

What a colleague Terry was! Always loyal to his friends and fair to his adversaries. Fun to be around, with a sense of humor which transcended the political problems of the minute.

His practical nature was legendary. Once on a visit to his home, he gave me a tour of his work shop. I asked him what caused the bloodstains on his shop floor. “I cut myself,” he laughed. “Kept the bloodstains to remind myself to be careful.”

He exercised the same care in his oversight role over America’s nuclear arsenal.

Trace Terry Everett’s calm, deep wisdom back to his home and you’ll find his cornerstone – Barbara.

Thank you, Barbara for sharing this great American with the rest of us.