On a cold, clear winter’s day, the first tour bus pulls up to the Joint Security Area gate at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

On a drill pad nearby, Republic of Korea soldiers are exercising in formation to patriotic music blaring from loud speakers overhead.

The bus moves past the checkpoint and onward toward the most heavily-fortified border in the world.

The DMZ was established in 1953 at the outset of the Korean War at the 38th Parallel in order for both North and South Korea to move their troops back 2,200 feet from the front line, creating a no-man’s land 2.5 miles wide.

Chock full of pill boxes, bunkers, barriers of all sorts, high barbed-wire fences and countless land mines, the reality of one’s surroundings comes quickly into focus within minutes of entering the area.

“It (the tour) was really impressive,” said Colorado Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Erik McDanal of the March 5 tour. “Until you’re actually here, you don’t see the fine details and you don’t realize how much history there really is surrounding this place.”

DMZ tours are available to U.S. Soldiers on a regular basis and may include stops at the conference rooms that straddle the military demarcation line (the line running down the center of the DMZ that indicates exactly where the front was when the armistice agreement was signed at the end of the war); Dora Observatory, where visitors can catch a glimpse of the reclusive North Korean state through binoculars; and the Third Tunnel of Aggression, dug by the North Koreans for a surprise attack on the South.

COARNG Capt. John Sweet said his uncle fought in the Korean War and his father and cousin were both stationed in Korea after the war. He said his visit to the DMZ meant a lot to him in a sense of historical lineage.

“I do feel a real connection to my family members’ service in Korea,” Sweet said. “There’s a lot of responsibility to what the Americans are doing here and what they’ve done here for the past 60 years.”

Sweet said the tour was the most impressive one he’s ever seen.

“Any American that visits Korea should take this tour, because it really helps put things into context,” he said. “It best explains why the Americans have such a military presence here and such a long-term commitment.”

The highlight of the tour is the visit to the conference room that runs down the MDL. Here, visitors can get up close and personal with the stern-looking ROK military police and see North Korean guards on duty.

“The North Korean looking at us with binoculars was interesting,” said COARNG Master Sgt. David Martinez. “Knowing that they were eyeballing us was pretty cool.”