Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command | |
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Country | United States |
Branch | United States Army Materiel Command (AMC) |
Size | 7,700 civilian, 250 military, TBD contractors (as of 1996) [1] |
Garrison/HQ | Redstone Arsenal Other military installations Corpus Christi Army Depot Letterkenny Army Depot Fort Novosel Army Aviation Center |
Website | www |
Commanders | |
Current commander | MG Lori L. Robinson |
Notable commanders | General John Medaris (AOMC, 1958) |
Insignia | |
Distinctive Unit Insignia |
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". [2]
AMCOM works closely with The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC) [3] which operates simulation facilities to evaluate missile components, such as seekers, in a variety of flights and countermeasures environments. AMCOM also has access to several wind tunnels to test full-size helicopters, a vertical motion simulator for flight control evaluation and a crash-testing tower used to improve safety.
AMCOM's TMDE Activity provides worldwide command and control over a broad metrology and calibration program. AMCOM is also the leader in Foreign Military Sales, accounting for over 50 percent of total Army sales to Allied forces and friendly foreign nations. [1] AMCOM's main organizations are organized into "centers":
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command is a LCMC. [4] Thus it has an associated contracting center. [5] This LCMC Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command was formerly Aviation and Missile Command (1997). This LCMC "purchases about $1 billion worth of aircraft and missile parts each year." [2]
The U.S. Army Missile Command was formally established on 23 May 1962 at Redstone Arsenal to manage the army's missile systems.
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.
Letterkenny Army Depot, the Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITE) for Air Defense and Tactical Missile Systems, was established in early 1942. Its leadership began recruiting civilian personnel in July 1942.
The United States Army Ordnance Corps, formerly the United States Army Ordnance Department, is a sustainment branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia. The broad mission of the Ordnance Corps is to supply Army combat units with weapons and ammunition, including at times, their procurements and maintenance. Along with the Quartermaster Corps and Transportation Corps, it forms a critical component of the U.S. Army logistics system.
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory is the foundational research laboratory for the United States Army under the United States Army Futures Command (AFC). DEVCOM ARL conducts intramural and extramural research guided by 11 Army competencies: Biological and Biotechnology Sciences; Humans in Complex Systems; Photonics, Electronics, and Quantum Sciences; Electromagnetic Spectrum Sciences; Mechanical Sciences; Sciences of Extreme Materials; Energy Sciences; Military Information Sciences; Terminal Effects; Network, Cyber, and Computational Sciences; and Weapons Sciences.
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 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.
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.
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.
Major General Holger Nelson Toftoy was a United States Army career officer instrumental to the development of the United States' early rocketry after World War II, such as the Redstone missile. He persuaded senior officers to bring German scientists to the US after the war, to make use of their expertise, and supervised the relocation of more than 119 scientists.
The United States Army Security Assistance Command (USASAC) implements security assistance programs, including Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, for the Department of the Army. USASAC is responsible for the United States Army security assistance information management and financial policy and provides logistics guidance to the army's security assistance community. The command also supports the U.S. government's emergency assistance, humanitarian aid, and military operations other than war, including peacekeeping operations by the United Nations.
The Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) is a Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) of the United States Army based at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, United States. It is one of four such commands under the Army Materiel Command (AMC), and is the Army's provider and maintainer of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) capabilities.
The Office of the United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASA(ALT) pronounced A-salt) is known as OASA(ALT). OASA(ALT) serves, when delegated, as the Army Acquisition Executive, the Senior Procurement Executive, the Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Army, and as the senior research and development official for the Department of the Army. The OASA(ALT) also has the principal responsibility for all Department of the Army matters related to logistics.
Lieutenant General (Ret.) August Schomburg was the Commander of the United States Army Ballistic Missile Command, and later Commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He retired from Active Duty military service in 1967, and died in 1972. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His wife Fern Wynne Schomburg died in 1996.
The Pershing Project Manager's Office (PPMO) was the U.S. Army agency responsible for the systems management and engineering of the Pershing missile systems.
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 Lynn A. Collyar is a retired general officer in the United States Army and served as the Commanding General, U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command between from 2012 to 2014. Prior to this assignment, he served as the 35th Chief of Ordnance and Commandant of the U.S. Army Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland and Fort Lee, Virginia.
Douglas M. Gabram is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who last served as the commanding general of the United States Army Installation Management Command. Previously, he served as the Director for Test of the Missile Defense Agency.
The Human Engineering Laboratory (HEL) was a research institution under the U.S. Army Materiel Command that specialized in human performance research, human factors engineering, robotics, and human-in-the-loop technology. Located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, HEL acted as the Army’s lead laboratory for human factors and ergonomics research from 1951 to 1992. Researchers at HEL investigated methods to maximize combat effectiveness, improve weapons and equipment designs, and reduce operation costs and errors. In 1992, HEL was disestablished, and its mission, personnel, and facilities were incorporated into the newly created U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL).