Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center

NSSC occupies at its main Natick campus and has an additional in neighboring communities. The main campus is located to the northwest of Natick center and abuts upon Lake Cochituate. The installation includes facilities from all the military services, not just the Army, and is so configured to allow cross-service cooperation and collaboration both within the facility and with the many academic, industrial and governmental institutions in the Greater Boston Area. Employee/tenant numbers total 1,957 (159 military personnel, 1,048 civilians and 750 contractors). The SSC public relations office reported that the installation’s FY2006 funding totaled approximately $1 billion and that the facilities infuse more than $135 million annually into the local economy through installation salaries, utilities, and local contracts. The installation commander is a U.S. Army Brigadier General, currently BG George Hackler, who also serves as the Deputy Commanding General of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. == Organization and naming ==

NSSC is commonly known as Natick Laboratories, although this designation more properly refers to one of its tenant units, the U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center. DEVCOM SC was formerly the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC). DEVCOM is subordinate to U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC) headquartered in Austin, Texas, which was activated in July 2018. Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) was formerly Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) at Aberdeen Proving Ground. ==Mission==

NSSC includes facilities designed to research and test both materials (textiles, combat rations), advanced technologies and human performance (human research volunteers) under simulated environmental extremes (altitude, heat, cold, wind, etc.). The requirement for improved combat rations has led to groundbreaking developments in the field of food irradiation and freeze-drying techniques. Improved body armor, new military parachuting technology, and enhanced military garments designed for a variety of environments are all ongoing efforts. ==History==

, ca. 1960Construction of the Quartermaster Research Laboratory at Natick, MA, was authorized by Congress in October 1949, and began in November 1952. The ceremonial laying of a cornerstone for the Natick facility happened on 30 May 1953, with Speaker Joseph W. Martin Jr., Sen. Leverett Saltonstall, Sen. John F. Kennedy, and others in attendance. July 1961 saw the activation of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (USARIEM) at Natick and a year later the QREC was placed under the U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC). In November 1962, the QREC was redesignated as Natick Laboratories and the following year the Food and Container Institute moved to Natick. July 1967 saw the Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility (NCTRF) relocate to Natick. still a subordinate element of ATCOM. A U.S. Army Soldier Systems Command (SSCOM) SSCOM merged with the Chemical Biological Defense Command (CBDCOM) to become the Soldier and Biological Chemical Command (SBCCOM) in October 1998. Sometime in the 1990s, NRDEC was redesignated as U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center (NSC), being redesignated later as U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) in the late 2000s. On 3 February 2019, NSRDEC became U.S. Army CCDC Soldier Center (of Combat Capabilities Development Command). Sometime afterward, the acronym gradually transitioned from CCDC Soldier Center to U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center. ==Tenant units and facilities==

NSSC hosts several tenant units and facilities. The following lists detail them. List of research and development commands, centers, offices and elements: • U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center (Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center, abbreviated as DEVCOM SC), formerly NSRDEC, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland • U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (ARIEM), a subordinate lab of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (MRDC), headquartered at Fort Detrick, Maryland • U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) • U.S. Army Integrated Logistics and Support Center (ILSC) • U.S. Coast Guard Clothing Design and Technical Office (CDTO) • U.S. Navy Clothing and Textile Research Facility (NCTRF) • Elements of PM-Soldier Equipment (part of PEO Soldier, with its main facilities located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia) • U.S. Army Product Manager Force Sustainment Systems (PM FSS) • U.S. Army RDECOM Acquisition Center - Natick, the Natick Contracting Division of RDECOM AC, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland Additional services: • An office of the General Services Administration (GSA) • An office of the Hanscom Federal Credit Union • An office of the United States Health Services Command • An office of the Defense Automated Printing Service • An office of the U.S. Army Audit Agency List of facilities and laboratories: • The Doriot Climatic Chamber Complex • Combat Rations Production and Packaging Facility • 3-D Anthropometrics Laboratory • Camouflage Evaluation Facility • Rain Court • Hydro-Environmental Chamber • Shade Room • Fiber Plant • Thermal and Flame Laboratory • Military Operations in Urban Environment (MOUT) Lab/Facility == List of commanding generals ==

Natick Labs has developed or is developing the following items or systems: • Meal, Ready-to-Eat • Unitized Group Ration • Irradiated food • The "instant chapel" == See also ==