Detroit Army Arsenal | |
---|---|
Part of U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command | |
Warren, Michigan | |
Type | TACOM
|
Site information | |
Controlled by | US Army Installation Management Command |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | US Army Garrison - Detroit Army Arsenal |
Detroit Arsenal (DTA), formerly Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant (DATP) was the first manufacturing plant ever built for the mass production of tanks in the United States. Established in 1940 under Chrysler, the plant was owned by the U.S. government until 1996. It was designed by architect Albert Kahn. The building was designed originally as a "dual production facility", so that it could make armaments and be turned into peaceful production at war's end. [1] Notwithstanding its name, the 113-acre (0.46 km2) site was located in Warren, Michigan, Detroit's most populous suburb. [2]
Chrysler's construction effort at the plant in 1941 was one of the fastest on record. [3] The first tanks rumbled out of the plant before its complete construction. [4]
During World War II, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant built a quarter of the 89,568 tanks produced in the U.S. overall. The plant made M3 Lee tanks while the buildings were still being raised and switched to M4 Sherman tanks in 1942. The Korean War boosted production for the first time since World War II had ended; the government would suspend tank production after each war. In May 1952, Chrysler resumed control from the army, which had been unable to ramp up production. [1]
External image | |
---|---|
Aerial view of the site, 2006 [5] |
As a government-owned, contractor operated (GOCO) facility, Chrysler retained operational control of the production facility until March 1982, when Chrysler sold its Chrysler Defense division to General Dynamics Land Systems. General Dynamics produced the M1 Abrams tank at the facility (and at another plant in Lima, Ohio) until 1996, when the plant was closed and tank assembly and maintenance operations were consolidated [6] at the Lima plant. [7] The plant and some of the adjoining property were transferred to the City of Warren [8] in 2001. The site of the original tank plant has been parcelled up and is now dedicated to civilian uses. [9]
This important production site of the Arsenal of Democracy is memorialized by a Michigan Historical Marker. [10]
The structure of the plant was designed to survive bombardment by the weapons of the day. It included 3-foot-thick (0.91 m) concrete walls in some areas and a reinforced roof with slats to direct bombs away from vulnerable windows and exhaust fans.
The portion of the property not sold to the city remains an active Army facility with many agencies present. The installation is managed by Installation Management Command (IMCOM) and hosts the headquarters of the United States Army CCDC Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), formerly United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), [11] and it hosts the United States Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command. TACOM continues to function at the location, and experienced a major building boom in the 2010s. [12]
Warren is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Warren borders Detroit to the north, roughly 13 miles (20.9 km) north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 139,387, making Warren the largest community in Macomb County, the third-largest city in Michigan, and Detroit's largest suburb.
The PGM-11 Redstone was the first large American ballistic missile. A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM), it was in active service with the United States Army in West Germany from June 1958 to June 1964 as part of NATO's Cold War defense of Western Europe. It was the first US missile to carry a live nuclear warhead, in the 1958 Pacific Ocean weapons test, Hardtack Teak.
The M48 Patton is an American first-generation main battle tank (MBT) introduced in February 1952, being designated as the 90mm Gun Tank: M48. It was designed as a replacement for the M26 Pershing, M4 Sherman, M46 and M47 Patton tanks, and was the main battle tank of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War. Nearly 12,000 M48s were built, mainly by Chrysler and American Locomotive Company, from 1952 to 1961. The M48 Patton was the first U.S. medium gun tank with a four-man crew, featuring a centerline driver's compartment and no bow machine gunner. As with nearly all new armored vehicles it had a wide variety of suspension systems, cupola styles, power packs, fenders and other details among individual tanks.
Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the surrounding area with its largest employer being Oakland County. There are varied definitions of the area, including the official statistical areas designated by the Office of Management and Budget, a federal agency of the United States.
The Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center, formerly the United States Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, is a military research complex and installation in Natick, Massachusetts, charged by the U.S. Department of Defense with the research and development of food, clothing, shelters, airdrop systems, and other servicemember support items for the U.S. military. It is a component unit of the United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command and is a tenant unit of the United States Army Natick Soldier Systems Center (SSC). The installation includes facilities from all the military services, not just the Army, and is so configured to allow cross-service cooperation and collaboration both within the facility and with the many academic, industrial and governmental institutions in the Greater Boston Area.
Southeast Michigan, also called southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are concentrated in Metro Detroit.
The Picatinny Arsenal is an American military research and manufacturing facility located on 6,400 acres (26 km2) of land in Jefferson and Rockaway Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, encompassing Picatinny Lake and Lake Denmark. The Arsenal is the headquarters of the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center. It is known for developing the ubiquitous Picatinny rail, as well as being the Army's center of expertise for small arms cartridge ammunition.
Conner Center, previously known as Conner Avenue Assembly, is a Stellantis North America facility in Detroit, Michigan. The facility opened in 1966 as a factory for spark plug company Champion. It was closed by Cooper Industries in 1990 shortly after their acquisition of Champion. In 1995, Chrysler purchased the facility to be a low-volume specialty assembly plant.
Newark Assembly was a Chrysler factory in Newark, Delaware built in 1951 to make tanks and later automobiles with production continuing until December 2008.
The Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, is a 5,000,000 sq ft (460,000 m2) automotive manufacturing factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan currently operated by Stellantis North America.
The United States Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), and its subordinate Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC), headquartered at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan, is part of the United States Army Materiel Command (AMC).
The U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) is the primary provider of materiel to the United States Army. The Command's mission includes the management of installations, as well as maintenance and parts distribution. It was established on 8 May 1962 and was activated on 1 August of that year as a major field command of the U.S. Army. Lieutenant General Frank S. Besson, Jr., who directed the implementation of the Department of Army study that recommended creation of a "materiel development and logistics command", served as its first commander.
The metropolitan area surrounding and including Detroit, Michigan, is a ten-county area with a population of over 5.9 million, a workforce of 2.6 million, and about 347,000 businesses. Detroit's six-county Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of about 4.3 million, a workforce of about 2.1 million, and a gross metropolitan product of $200.9 billion. Detroit's urban area has a population of 3.9 million. A 2005 PricewaterhouseCoopers study estimated that Detroit's urban area had a gross domestic product of $203 billion.
The United States Army DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) (formerly United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC)), located in Warren, Michigan, is the United States Armed Forces' research and development facility for advanced technology in ground systems. It is part of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command. GVSC shares its facilities with the United States Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM). Current technology focus areas include Ground Vehicle Power and Mobility (GVPM), Ground System Survivability and Force Protection, among others.
The Chrysler World Headquarters and Technology Center (CTC) is the North American headquarters and main research and development facility for the automobile manufacturer Stellantis. The 504-acre (204 ha) complex is located next to Interstate 75 in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a northern suburb of Detroit. The complex has 5,400,000 square feet (500,000 m2) of usable space, placing it the third largest buildings in the world by floor space. Completed between 1993 and 1996 for the Chrysler Corporation, the building has followed the company as it changed hands several times since, serving as the North American headquarters for DaimlerChrysler, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and now Stellantis North America.
The Joint Systems Manufacturing Center, also known as the Lima Army Tank Plant (LATP) is a tank plant located in Lima, Ohio. It is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility currently operated by General Dynamics Land Systems. Workers at the plant are represented by UAW Local 2075.
Lieutenant General Gwendolyn Bingham is a retired officer of the United States Army who served as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management from 2016 to 2019. Bingham previously served as the Commander of the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command headquartered at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan, and as the Commanding General, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. She was the 51st Quartermaster General of the United States Army and Commandant of the United States Army Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, Virginia – the first female officer to hold these positions.
SRG Global Inc. is one of the largest manufacturers of chrome plated plastic parts for the automotive and commercial truck industries. Headquartered near Detroit in Troy, Michigan, the Tier 1 supplier has manufacturing operations across North America, Europe and Asia. The company’s Advanced Development Center in Taylor, Michigan, is a dedicated facility for developing new plastics coating technology.
Major General Clark W. LeMasters Jr. is a serving general officer in the United States Army and serves as the 35th Commanding General of the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command Life Cycle Management Command. Previously, he served as the 36th Chief of Ordnance for the U.S. Army and Commandant of the United States Army Ordnance School at Fort Lee, Virginia.
Major General William M. Lenaers is a retired general officer in the United States Army and served as Commanding General, U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command in Warren, Michigan from 2004 to 2008. Prior to this assignment, he served as the 32nd Chief of Ordnance and Commandant of the U.S. Army Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland.