Few air defenders have ever seen both sides of an intercontinental ballistic missile intercept.

Army Lt. Col. Tim Biart was for eight years an ICBM missileer manning the stations that are a turnkey away from a nuclear missile launch. Now, he’s part of the National Guard’s 100th Missile Defense Brigade at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, at the ready to launch interceptors against a rogue nation that might attack the United States.