| Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command | |
|---|---|
 Headquarters AMCOM at Redstone Arsenal | |
| Country | United States of America |
| Branch | United States Army Materiel Command (AMC) |
| Size | 7,700 civilian, 250 military, TBD contractors (as of 1996)[1] |
| Garrison/HQ | Redstone Arsenal |
| 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) is a research and development and product management command of the United States Army. It 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 systems.
The central part of AMCOM's mission involves acquisition and sustainment support for aviation systems, missile systems, and Test, Measurement, and Diagnostic Equipment (TMDE) throughout their product life cycle, from initial concept to safe disposal. 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] Its other installations include Corpus Christi Army Depot; Letterkenny Army Depot, and the Army Aviation Center at Fort Novosel.
AMCOM works closely with the U.S. Army DEVCOM 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.
The U.S. Army Missile Command (MICOM) was formally established on 23 May 1962 at Redstone Arsenal to manage the army's missile systems.
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.[8] Thus it has an associated contracting center.[9] 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]
 |
| No. | Commanding General | Term | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Duration | |
| As U.S. Army Ballistic Missile Agency | |||||
| 1 | Major General John Bruce Medaris | 1 February 1956 [10] | 31 March 1958 | 2 years, 58 days | |
| As U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command | |||||
| 1 | Major General Emmitt E. Gibson | 17 July 1997[10] | 9 July 1999 | 1 year, 357 days | |
| 2 | Major General Julian A. Sullivan, Jr. | 9 July 1999[10] | 10 September 2001 | 2 years, 63 days | |
| 3 | Major General Larry J. Dodgen | 10 September 2001[10] | 1 December 2003 | 2 years, 82 days | |
| 4 | Major General James H. Pillsbury | 1 December 2003[11] | 19 July 2007 | 3 years, 230 days | |
| 5 | Major General James R. Myles | 19 July 2007[12] | 10 September 2010 | 3 years, 53 days | |
| 6 | Major General James E. Rogers | 10 September 2010[13] | 1 June 2012 | 1 year, 265 days | |
| 7 | Major General Lynn A. Collyar | 1 June 2012[14] | 12 June 2014 | 2 years, 11 days | |
| 8 | Major General James M. Richardson | 12 June 2014[15][16] | 18 February 2016 | 1 year, 251 days | |
| 9 | Major General Douglas Gabram | 18 February 2016[17] | 14 February 2019 | 2 years, 361 days | |
| 10 | William Marriott Acting | 14 February 2019[18] | 10 June 2019 | 116 days | |
| 11 | Major General K. Todd Royar | 10 June 2019[18] | 12 August 2022 | 3 years, 63 days | |
| 12 | Major General Thomas W. O'Connor Jr. | 12 August 2022[19] | 10 July 2024 | 1 year, 333 days | |
| 13 | Major General Lori L. Robinson | 10 July 2024[20] | Incumbent | 1 year, 48 days | |
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."
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.
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