"During the Cold War a ring of Nike anti-aircraft missile sites defended the nation's capital, reminiscent of the perimeter of forts that protected it during the Civil War.  Just east of here was located the launch control equipment for one of the three Nike complexes in Fairfax County.  To the west stood the missiles, poised on above-ground launchers.  The U.S. Army (1954~1959) and the Army National Guard (1959~1963) operated this battery.  Built to oppose Soviet air attack, this complex and those in Great Falls and Lorton were three of thirteen Nike sites that surrounded Washington and Baltimore."