Gaziantep , Turkey ( CNN ) -- For the past eight months , close to 300 U.S. soldiers have stood guard on a hillside overlooking one of Turkey 's largest cities , scanning the skies for the threat of missiles fired from nearby Syria . The American men and women , wearing full battle armor and helmets under the hot September sun , operate a series of Patriot missile launchers and radar stations , designed to hunt and shoot down incoming missiles . Middle East reconfigured : Turkey vs. Iran vs. Saudi Arabia . It is a U.S. military `` boots on the ground '' deployment close to the Syrian border that has been largely overlooked during the furious debate in Washington over whether to attack the Syrian regime . `` We 're protecting against any tactical ballistic missile or rocket attack that may come from the country of Syria , '' said Lt. Col. John Dawber , commander of the Patriot missile battalion originating from Fort Sill , Oklahoma . `` Our presence here is to deter such an attack , and if that attack does come , to defeat any attack on our asset . '' The `` asset '' is Gaziantep , a fast-growing industrial city of 1.4 million inhabitants . This sprawling metropolis is about 30 miles from the Syrian border and barely a two-hour drive from the northern Syrian battlefield city of Aleppo , which has been the target of months of Syrian government airstrikes and Scud surface-to-surface missile attacks . Late last year , at the request of the Turkish government , the U.S. , Germany and the Netherlands agreed to send three Patriot missile battalions to their NATO ally , to protect the Turkish cities of Gaziantep , Adana and Kahramanmaras . The decision was reached after a series of deadly cross-border incidents , during which the Turkish government accused Syrian government forces of killing Turkish citizens with artillery and small arms fire . The possibility that chemical weapons were used on a massive scale in neighborhoods around Damascus last week has only escalated the potential threat along the border , especially after the Syrian government threatened retaliation against U.S. allies Turkey , Jordan and Israel if it was targeted by an American attack . The U.S. troops stationed in Gaziantep say surface-to-surface missiles equipped with chemical warheads are weapons the Patriot missile systems are designed to combat . `` The nature of our branch ( of the military ) , air defense artillery , is that there is always a chemical threat , '' said Capt . Tarik Jones , a native of Woodbridge , Virginia . Lt. Col. Dawber added that the Patriot missiles ' ability to destroy missiles armed with chemical weapons depended on many factors , including the quantity of poison on the warhead , the type of chemical agent and weather conditions . But , he added , `` I 'm pretty sure we can mitigate most of that , if not all of that , based on certain conditions . '' For laymen , Jones summed up the complicated advanced technology and physics behind the Patriot system with a Nintendo video game analogy . He called the Patriots `` Duck Hunt . '' `` We are able to engage missiles that are coming into the city , by shooting missiles out that are able to intercept it in the middle of the air , '' he said . There are ample reasons why the Syrian government would want to attack Gaziantep . Tens -- if not hundreds -- of thousands of Syrian refugees and exiles are believed to have settled here over the past two years . It is a key operations hub for international aid efforts to northern Syria . But Gaziantep is also an important rear base of operations for Syrian opposition groups , who are supported and , in some cases , armed by the Turkish government . The mission of the U.S. troops deployed here is unusual because from their vantage point , they can see the city they have been assigned to protect . `` This is the first time in my 18-year career that we can see the asset that we 're defending , '' said Dawber , who gazed past rows of Patriot missile launchers at the cityscape below . `` It 's a special reward to also enjoy the view , while protecting the asset that we cover . ''
1.4 million Netherlands soldiers protect Gaziantep , an industrial city of Close to 300 people . They operate Patriot missile launchers and radar stations near the Syrian border . Commander : `` We 're protecting against '' any Syrian `` tactical ballistic missile or rocket attack '' months , at U.S. 's request , U.S. , Germany , Netherlands agreed to send missiles .