Jump to content

United States Army Aviation and Missile Command

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about a command of the U.S. Army. For the telecommunications equipment manufacturer, see Micom.
Not to be confused with Army Materiel Command (AMC), the U.S. Army's materiel provider and higher authority to the Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM).

U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
AMCOM's distinctive unit insignia
Active1997–present
Country United States
Branch United States Army
TypeMajor subordinate command
Size7,700 civilian, 250 military, TBD contractors (as of 1996)
Part of U.S. Army Materiel Command
Garrison/HQRedstone Arsenal, Alabama
Websiteamcom.army.mil
Commanders
Commanding generalMG Lori L. Robinson
Notable
commanders		GEN John Medaris (AOMC, 1958)

The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) is a United States Army command, managing the logistics and repair support of Army aviation, missile, and unmanned systems. It is a "major subordinate command" of Army Materiel Command. Aviation and Missile Command is headquartered at Redstone Arsenal, in Huntsville, Alabama.

Operations

[edit]

In 2019, the command's budget was $3.7 billion, and it maintained a global workforce of 15,000 military and civilian employees.[1] Its installations include: Corpus Christi Army Depot, Letterkenny Army Depot, and the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

AMCOM is the leader in Foreign Military Sales, accounting for over 50 percent of total Army sales to allied forces and friendly foreign nations.[citation needed]

AMCOM's Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment (TMDE) Activity provides worldwide command and control over a broad metrology and calibration program.

AMCOM works closely with the DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center (AvMC),[2] which operates simulation facilities to evaluate missile components, such as seekers, in a variety of flight 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.

Chronology

[edit]
  • October 1948 – The Chief of Ordnance designated Redstone Arsenal as the center for ordnance research and development in the field of rockets.
  • 1 June 1949 – The Chief of Ordnance officially activated the arsenal, becoming the site of the Ordnance Rocket Center.
  • 28 October 1949 – The Secretary of the Army approved the transfer of the Ordnance Research and Development Division Sub-Office (Rocket) at Fort Bliss, Texas, to the Redstone Arsenal as the Ordnance Guided Missile Center.[3]
  • 22 October 1952 – The Transportation Corps Army Aviation Field Service Office (TCAAFSO) established at St. Louis, Missouri, as a Class II Activity under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Transportation.
  • March 1955 – TCAAFSO and the Transportation Materiel Command (TMC) located in Marietta, Pennsylvania, which had logistical responsibility for rail and marine equipment, consolidated into the Transportation Supply and Maintenance Command (TSMC), headquartered at St. Louis, Missouri.
  • 1 February 1956 – The U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) established at Redstone Arsenal.
  • March 1958 – Organizations placed under the new Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) included: the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA), the Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency (ARGMA), Redstone Arsenal, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and White Sands Proving Grounds.[4]
  • July to October 1958 – The ABMA's scientific and engineering staff, including Wernher von Braun and the Saturn I team at Redstone Arsenal, were transferred to the newly created NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, at the southern half of Redstone Arsenal. Nearly all of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, were transferred to NASA, eliminating the prospect of an Army space program.[5][6]
  • 1958 – The Pershing Project Manager's Office was created.
  • 1 October 1959 – TSMC redesignated the Transportation Materiel Command (TMC).
  • 23 May 1962 – The Missile Command (MICOM) was officially established at Redstone Arsenal, responsible for managing the Army's missile systems. MICOM became fully staffed and operational on 1 August 1962.
  • 1 August 1962 – TMC placed under the jurisdiction of the Mobility Command (MOCOM), a major subordinate command of Army Materiel Command (AMC).
  • 1 November 1962 – Transportation Materiel Command (TMC) redesignated to Aviation and Surface Materiel Command (AVSCOM).
  • 28 February 1964 – AVSCOM redesignated to Aviation Materiel Command (AVCOM).
  • 1 August 1966 – Assignment of AVCOM under MOCOM terminated, and AVCOM established as a major subordinate command of AMC.
  • 23 September 1968 – Aviation Materiel Command (AVCOM) redesignated to Aviation Systems Command (AVSCOM), which returned to the original "AVSCOM" acronym.
  • 31 Jan 1977 – As part of a larger reorganization to Army Materiel Command, the missions and people of MICOM were split between Missile Materiel Readiness Command (MIRCOM) and Missile Research and Development Command (MIRADCOM).
  • 1 July 1977 – AVSCOM was discontinued, with its readiness mission combined with that of Troop Support Command (TROSCOM), forming TSARCOM (Troop Support and Aviation Materiel Readiness Command). The aviation R&D mission of AVSCOM was assigned to Aviation Research and Development Command (AVRADCOM).
  • 1 July 1979 – AMC decided the most logical and efficient way to meet the Army missile program's requirements is under the single command concept. Consequently, MIRCOM and MIRADCOM were inactivated and their facilities, missions, and people combined in place under the reinstituted MICOM.
  • 1 March 1984 – AVSCOM was reestablished, and all the missions and activities of AVRADCOM and aviation-related missions and elements of the Troop Support and Aviation Materiel Readiness Command (TSARCOM) were transferred to AVSCOM.
  • 1 October 1992 – The Aviation and Troop Command (ATCOM) was formed at St. Louis, Missouri, combining the missions of the Aviation Systems Command (AVSCOM) and the Troop Support Command (TROSCOM).
  • 8 September 1995 – Congress approved the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission list, proposing that ATCOM would inactivate, and its mission and elements would relocate to Redstone Arsenal.
    AMCOM headquarters located at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
  • 17 July 1997 – Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) was provisionally established, merging the Aviation and Troop Command (ATCOM) with the Missile Command (MICOM).[a]
  • 1 October 1997 – The Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) was permanently established at Redstone Arsenal.
  • 16 June 2005 – The Aviation and Missile LCMC was activated. It comprised all elements of the Aviation and Missile Command, the Program Executive Office for Aviation, and the Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space.[8]

Source:[9]

Organization

[edit]

AMCOM's main organizations are organized into centers:

  • Acquisition Center – responsible for contracting support.
  • AMCOM Logistics Center (ALC) – responsible for logistics support.

The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command is a LCMC.[10] Thus it has an associated contracting center.[11] This LCMC, Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command, was formerly Aviation and Missile Command.[further explanation needed] This LCMC purchases about $1 billion worth of aircraft and missile parts each year.[1]

List of commanding generals

[edit]


No. Commanding General Term
Portrait Name Took office Left office Duration
As U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency
1
John Bruce Medaris
Major General
John Bruce Medaris		1 February 1956 [12]31 March 19582 years, 58 days
As U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
1
Emmitt E. Gibson
Major General
Emmitt E. Gibson		17 July 1997[12]9 July 19991 year, 357 days
2
Julian A. Sullivan, Jr.
Major General
Julian A. Sullivan, Jr.		9 July 1999[12]10 September 20012 years, 63 days
3
Larry J. Dodgen
Major General
Larry J. Dodgen		10 September 2001[12]1 December 20032 years, 82 days
4
James H. Pillsbury
Major General
James H. Pillsbury		1 December 2003[13]19 July 20073 years, 230 days
5
James R. Myles
Major General
James R. Myles		19 July 2007[14]10 September 20103 years, 53 days
6
James E. Rogers
Major General
James E. Rogers		10 September 2010[15]1 June 20121 year, 265 days
7
Lynn A. Collyar
Major General
Lynn A. Collyar		1 June 2012[16]12 June 20142 years, 11 days
8
James M. Richardson
Major General
James M. Richardson		12 June 2014[17][18]18 February 20161 year, 251 days
9
Douglas Gabram
Major General
Douglas Gabram		18 February 2016[19]14 February 20192 years, 361 days
10
William Marriott
William Marriott
Acting		14 February 2019[20]10 June 2019116 days
11
K. Todd Royar
Major General
K. Todd Royar		10 June 2019[20]12 August 20223 years, 63 days
12
Thomas W. O'Connor Jr.
Major General
Thomas W. O'Connor Jr.		12 August 2022[21]10 July 20241 year, 333 days
13
Lori L. Robinson
Major General
Lori L. Robinson		10 July 2024[22]Incumbent1 year, 114 days

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ According to ATCOM's FY1996 Annual Command History, in September 1996, the commanding general of MICOM proposed that Missile and Aviation Command (MAVCOM) be the name of the merged command. However, Headquarters, AMC preferred the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure Commission) name—the Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM)—which was instituted on 17 July 1997.[7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b U.S. Army (16 December 2019) AMCOM improves readiness in 2019, looks to future
  2. ^ Amy Tolson, Aviation & Missile Center Public Affairs (10 December 2019) CCDC commanding general pays first visit to Aviation, Missile Center (AvMC)
  3. ^ McCleskey, C.; D. Christensen. "Dr. Kurt H. Debus: Launching a vision" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  4. ^ "Redstone Arsenal Complex Chronology, Part II: Nerve Center of Army Missilery, 1950–62 – Section B: The ABMA/AOMC Era, 1956–62". Redstone Arsenal Historical Information. United States Army. Archived from the original on 16 July 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2006.
  5. ^ Hall, R. Cargill; Neufeld, Jacob, eds. (1998). "The U.S. Air Force in Space: 1945 to the Twenty-first Century [Proceedings of Air Force Historical Foundation Symposium at Andrews AFB, Maryland, September 21-22, 1995]" (PDF). media.defense.gov. USAF History and Museums Program, United States Air Force, Washington, DC. pp. 38–39 / pdf p. 47–48. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2025. The rise of NASA sounded the death knell of Army and Navy pretensions to a major military space role. When NASA commenced operations on October 1, 1958, it relied on the aeronautical research facilities and personnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. But to achieve space capability quickly, NASA needed an infusion of programs, facilities, and funding from the military services. With little objection from the Navy, NASA received Project Vanguard's personnel and facilities, including its Minitrack satellite tracking network, and more than 400 scientists from the Naval Research Laboratory. Potential Army losses, however, proved far more sweeping and contentious. They eventually included the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), whose sympathetic director had visions of turning it into the "national space laboratory," and a portion of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency that included Wernher von Braun's team and its giant Saturn booster project. The major Air Force loss proved to be its manned space projects, which NASA combined under the designation Project Mercury."
  6. ^ Spires, David N. (1998). Bradley, George W. III; Sturdevant, Rick W.; Eckert, Richard S. (eds.). "Beyond Horizons: A Half Century of Air Force Space Leadership" (PDF). media.defense.gov (Revised ed.). pp. 65 / pdf p. 88. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2025. To achieve space capability quickly, NASA needed an infusion of space programs, facilities, and funding from the military services. In the NASA raid on service assets, the Air Force emerged the clear victor. With little objection from the Navy, NASA received Project Vanguard's personnel and facilities, including its Minitrack satellite tracking network, and more than 400 scientists and engineers from the Naval Research Laboratory. Potential Army losses, however, proved far more sweeping and contentious. Newly-appointed NASA administrator, Keith Glennan, considered the Army space program most important for providing the agency credible space design, engineering, and in-house resources. He initially requested transfer of Cal Tech's contracted Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), whose sympathetic director had visions of turning it into the "national space laboratory," and a portion of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency that included the von Braun team and its giant Saturn booster project. General Medaris, however, strongly objected and waged a public campaign to stall the process and reverse the decision. His effort produced a compromise. The JPL would be transferred to NASA by 3 December 1958, while the Huntsville complex would remain under the Army's jurisdiction and support NASA on a contractual basis. Medaris might postpone but he could not prevent a transfer. A year later the Army would lose to NASA its entire space operation at Huntsville, which would be renamed the Marshall Space Flight Center.
  7. ^ Butler, Howard K. (8 April 1997). "Key Dates. – Dissolution of the Command – Issues – Chapter I: Introduction | Fiscal Year 1996 ATCOM Annual Command History". google.com/books. HQ ATCOM Historical Office. pp. 16 / pdf p. 75. RCS CSHIS-6[R-3]. Retrieved 27 October 2025. 17 September 1996: An abortive attempt by MG Link, the CG, MICOM, to include a vault over channels directly to the Hqs [Headquarters], DA [Department of the Army], to have the NEWCOM [author stylization] named "MAVCOM" – Missile and Aviation Command – floundered. General Wilson, the CG, AMC, perhaps with the CG, MICOM's approach in mind, returned to the original BRAC term Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) for the NEWCOM designation.
  8. ^ "History | AMCOM website". amcom.army.mil. Archived from the original on 24 May 2025. Retrieved 9 October 2025. On June 16, 2005, the Aviation and Missile LCMC was formally activated. It comprised all elements of the Aviation and Missile Command, the Program Executive Office for Aviation, and the Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space.
  9. ^ "Evolution of the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command". redstone.army.mil. Archived from the original on 11 October 2004. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  10. ^ "AMCOM: U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command"
  11. ^ Gen. Dennis L. Via, AMC Commanding General (6 April 2016) AMC announces Mission Command alignment
  12. ^ a b c d "Biographies: Redstone Arsenal Commanders and other historically important figures in Redstone Arsenal's history". U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  13. ^ "Lt. Gen. James H. Pillsbury, U.S. Army Materiel Command deputy commanding general". U.S. Army. 15 December 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  14. ^ King, William (14 August 2024). "AMC names 2024 Hall of Fame inductees". U.S. Army. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Rogers Takes Reins of AMCOM and Redstone". U.S. Army. 9 September 2010.
  16. ^ Vaughn, Skip (12 June 2012). "Huntsville native returns as AMCOM commander". Huntsville Rocket.
  17. ^ "AMCOM Change of Command 6-12-2014 MG James Richardson.JPG". 24 June 2014.
  18. ^ Riopka, Melissa (12 June 2014). "Major General James Richardson takes over at US Army Aviation and Missile Command". WHNT News 19.
  19. ^ Hawkins, Kari (24 February 2016). "Gabram takes reins of Aviation and Missile Command".
  20. ^ a b "U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command welcomes new commander". U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command.
  21. ^ Belcher, Katherine (12 August 2022). "Maj. Gen. Thomas O'Connor takes command of AMCOM". U.S. Army. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  22. ^ Gordon, Michelle (11 July 2024). "Robinson takes over as AMCOM commander, O'Connor heads to Pentagon for a new role". U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States Army Aviation and Missile Command.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Army_Aviation_and_Missile_Command&oldid=1319845951"