DEVCOM AvMC traces its origins back to October 1948, when the Army's
chief of ordnance designated Redstone Arsenal as the center for research and development in the field of rockets. A year later, the
secretary of the Army approved the transfer of the Ordnance Research and Development Division sub-office (Rocket) from
Fort Bliss, Texas, to the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. Among those transferred were
Dr. Wernher von Braun and his team of German scientists and technicians
who had come to the United States after World War II. The Von Braun team is most noted for its pioneering efforts in helping the Army at Redstone lay the foundation for U.S. space exploration. • Technology Development Directorate (TDD): merged the Aviation Development Directorate with the Weapons Development and Integration Directorate. • Systems Readiness Directorate (SRD): the Aviation Engineering Directorate and elements of the Engineering Directorate combined to form SRD. • Software, Simulation, Systems Engineering and Integration (S3I) Directorate: was formerly the Systems Simulation, Software and Integration (S3I) Directorate. DEVCOM AvMC's prototype integration facility, along with certain elements under ED, were shifted to S3I.
Lineage • 1962 – The
U.S. Army Missile Command (MICOM) and the Directorate of Research and Development are activated. • 1964 –
U.S. Army Materiel Command assigned the
Army Aviation Materiel Command its first aviation and surface research and development center in
Fort Eustis, Virginia, to be known as the U.S. Army Aviation Materiel Laboratories. Later that year, the new U.S. Army Aeronautical Research Laboratory at
NASA's Ames Research Center opened at
Moffett Field, California. Both remain in operation today, under DEVCOM Aviation and Missile Center. • 1965 – Redesignated the Research and Development Directorate. • 1968 – Redesignated the Research and Engineering (R&E) Directorate. • 1971 – Redesignated the Directorate for Research, Development, Engineering, and Missile Systems Laboratory (RDE&MSL). • 1972 – RDE&MSL redesignated the Army Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Laboratory (MRDEL). • 1977 – With the establishment of the U.S. Army Missile Research and Development Command (MIRADCOM), the Technology Laboratory and the Engineering Laboratory were activated. • 1979 – MRDEL reorganized as the Army Missile Laboratory (AML), in the shift from the dual to merged command structure of the reinstituted MICOM. Also effective this date, the Engineering Laboratory was realigned and established as the Engineering Directorate. • 1980 – Engineering Directorate functions were placed under AML. • 1985 – Formation of the Research, Development and Engineering Centers (RDECs), in compliance with
AMC directions to establish research, development, and engineering (RD&E) centers. • 1992 – AVSCOM's RDEC realigned under the new
Aviation and Troop Command (ATCOM). • 1997 – The Aviation RDEC (AVRDEC) and Missile RDEC (MRDEC) assigned under the
Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM). • 1999 / 2000 – The AMRDEC—Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center—was formed by merging the AVRDEC and MRDEC. • 2004 – AMRDEC assigned to the new
Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM). • 2016 – AMRDEC operationally aligned under AMCOM; administratively aligned under RDECOM. • 2018 – AMRDEC realigned administratively and operationally with RDECOM. Referred to as RDECOM Aviation and Missile Center. • 2019 – RDECOM Aviation and Missile Center assigned under
Army Futures Command, transferred from Army Materiel Command. Referred to as the
Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation and Missile Center (CCDC AvMC). • 2021 – CCDC AvMC renamed DEVCOM AvMC. Higher headquarters, CCDC, referred to as DEVCOM. Source: == List of directors ==