The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) was an agency of the United States Department of Defense that began on 20 May 1974 with the responsibility for all U.S. ballistic missile defense efforts. It was renamed the Missile Defense Agency in 2002.
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence.
Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army base adjacent to Huntsville, Alabama in the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge. A census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, it is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The Arsenal is a host to over 75 tenant agencies including the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and NASA's largest field center, the Marshall Space Flight Center.
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) was formed to develop the U.S. Army's first large ballistic missile. The agency was established at Redstone Arsenal on 1 February 1956, and commanded by Major General John B. Medaris with Wernher von Braun as technical director.
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 Shahab-3 is a family of liquid-fueled ballistic missiles developed by Iran and based upon the North Korean Nodong-1. The Shahab-3 family has a range of 800-1,000 kilometres (620 mi). It was tested from 1998 to 2003 and added to the military arsenal on 7 July 2003, with an official unveiling by Ayatollah Khamenei on July 20. It has an estimated accuracy of about 2,500m CEP. According to the IAEA, Iran in the early 2000s may have explored various fuzing, arming and firing systems to make the Shahab-3 more capable of reliably delivering a nuclear warhead.
United States Space Command is a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, responsible for military operations in outer space, specifically all operations 100 kilometers and greater above mean sea level. U.S. Space Command is responsible for the operational employment of space forces that are provided by the uniformed services of the Department of Defense.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is a component of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a comprehensive defense against ballistic missiles. It had its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which was established in 1983 by Ronald Reagan and which was headed by Lt. General James Alan Abrahamson. Under the Strategic Defense Initiative's Innovative Sciences and Technology Office headed by physicist and engineer Dr. James Ionson, the investment was predominantly made in basic research at national laboratories, universities, and in industry. These programs have continued to be key sources of funding for top research scientists in the fields of high-energy physics, advanced materials, nuclear research, supercomputing/computation, and many other critical science and engineering disciplines—funding which indirectly supports other research work by top scientists, and which was most politically viable to fund from appropriations for national defense. It was renamed the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization in 1993, and then renamed the Missile Defense Agency in 2002. The current director is U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Jon A. Hill.
The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) develops, acquires, fields and sustains aviation, missile and unmanned aerial vehicles. AMCOM is primarily responsible for lifecycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned ground vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle weapon system. The central part of AMCOM's mission involves ensuring readiness through acquisition and sustainment support for aviation systems, missile systems, and test, measurement, and diagnostic equipment (TMDE) throughout their life cycle. The command is headquartered at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, has a 2019 "budget of more $3.7 billion, and a global workforce of more than 15,000 military and civilian employees".
The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterrence, global strike, and operating the Defense Department's Global Information Grid. It also provides a host of capabilities to support the other combatant commands, including integrated missile defense; and global command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR). This command exists to give "national leadership a unified resource for greater understanding of specific threats around the world and the means to respond to those threats rapidly".
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC), formerly known as the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), a part of the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) — now DEVCOM AvMC, is primarily a civilian organization tasked to provide research, development and engineering technology and services to support U.S. Army aviation and missile platforms. AvMC conducts research, promotes development, engineering and simulation laboratories and facilities used to develop and improve aviation and missile components, subsystems and systems.
Space Systems Command (SSC) is the United States Space Force's space development, acquisition, launch, and logistics field command. It is headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, and manages the United States' space launch ranges.
The Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters is the main operating center of the Defense Intelligence Agency. It is located on the premises of Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling in Washington, D.C.
The Redstone Test Stand or Interim Test Stand was used to develop and test fire the Redstone missile, Jupiter-C sounding rocket, Juno I launch vehicle and Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle. It was declared an Alabama Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1979 and a National Historic Landmark in 1985. It is located at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama on the Redstone Arsenal, designated Building 4665. The Redstone missile was the first missile to detonate a nuclear weapon. Jupiter-C launched to test components for the Jupiter missile. Juno I put the first American satellite Explorer 1 into orbit. Mercury Redstone carried the first American astronaut Alan Shepard into space. The Redstone earned the name "Old Reliable" because of this facility and the improvements it made possible.
Patrick M. Hughes is a retired United States Army officer who served as the 12th Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Previously, he was Director of Intelligence for the US Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1994 to 1996 and the Director of Intelligence at United States Central Command from 1992 to 1994. He was the Commanding General, United States Army Intelligence Agency, and the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, U.S. Army from 1990 until 1992. He joined the United States Department of Homeland Security in 2003 as the Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis (Intelligence), and departed from DHS and Government service in March 2005.
Carl Ernest Duckett was the founder of the Central Intelligence Agency's science and technology operations.
Malcolm Ross O'Neill was the United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology, having been sworn into office by United States Under Secretary of the Army Joseph W. Westphal on March 10, 2010, and resigned June 3, 2011.
William Ames Davis Jr. was an engineer and distinguished leader in Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) for the United States Army at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. Davis was an inaugural member of the United States Senior Executive Service (SES) and recipient of numerous accolades and awards from the army, including the Meritorious Civilian Service Award (1980) and the Department of the Army Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service (1982).
Rutledge Parker "Hap" Hazzard was director of Science and Technology division of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1973 to 1978. He became director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC) in 1978. After serving six years as director of NPIC from June 1978 to February 1984, Hazzard returned to the CIA's National Intelligence Office. He retired from public service in 1985.
Juanita M. Christensen is an American government official and electronics engineer. She is the deputy chief of staff for logistics (G4) of facilities and environmental at the United States Army Materiel Command. From November 2017 until January 2021, Christensen was director of the United States Army Aviation and Missile Center. In February 2015, she became the first African-American woman from Redstone Arsenal to join the Senior Executive Service.
