A father-son team who has been directly involved with the system's development and operation reflect on the history and future of GPS.

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Don Henderson spent most of his career in the research and development business. A key part of his career was with GPS as a system program office director. His organization coordinated the design, test and launch of GPS Block I satellites from 1979 to 1983 and developed the first set of user equipment.

"GPS was the most interesting, challenging and exciting program I ever worked on," said General Henderson.

He recalled some of the first tests of GPS-guided bombs near Yuma, Ariz., in January 1979. F-4 Phantom fighter pilots would bank up and right to "toss" the bomb toward its target, a 3-foot-long stake driven into the ground. On one of the first tests, a bomb scored a direct hit against the stake, breaking it in half.

While General Henderson led GPS development efforts, his son, Lt. Col. Scott Henderson, was still in high school. Colonel Henderson later became commander of 2nd SOPS and is now 14th Air Force chief of operations, plans and exercises.

"I remember him telling me how hard it was to get people to invest in GPS," Colonel Henderson said. "He knew it would have outside civilian uses, but Congress wanted to cancel it numerous times. In the long run, it did just what he predicted and has become a $20-billion industry in the United States."

The colonel said commanding 2nd SOPS was something special for him. His wife relies on GPS to navigate corporate jets, and his brother uses GPS as an Air Force combat search and rescue pilot.

"Whenever my brother gave me details [of combat saves], he said GPS takes a big part of the 'search' out of search and rescue," said Colonel Henderson. "It minimizes the amount of time in bad-guy territory."

In his current position, Colonel Henderson works closely with 14th Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. William Shelton, also a former 2nd SOPS commander. They see daily operations briefings on GPS performance in air campaigns at forward-deployed areas such as Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

The colonel's experience with GPS has given him a broader perspective on how the system fits into the overall Air Force mission and where GPS will be in another 20 years.

"The mission 2nd SOPS does today will be only a small part of what they do in 20 years," he said.

The colonel predicts that on the military side, the squadron's mission will include information and navigation warfare and anti-jamming operations.

On the civil side, he said it will be a continuing challenge to make GPS the world's "gold standard" for precision navigation and timing.

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