Redstone Arsenal
Encyclopedia
Redstone Arsenal is a United States Army
base and a census-designated place
(CDP) adjacent to Huntsville
in Madison County, Alabama
, United States
and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area
. The Arsenal is a garrison
for a number of tenants including the United States Army Materiel Command
, Army's Aviation and Missile Command
, the Missile Defense Agency
of the Department of Defense
, and NASA
's Marshall Space Flight Center
. Many of these units are moving due to decisions by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure
Commission. The Redstone CDP had a population of 1,946 as of the 2010 census.
Originally a chemical weapons manufacturing facility for World War II
, the arsenal became the focal point of the Army’s rocket and space projects, including development of the first U.S. ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles
in the 1950s.
Redstone Arsenal is located at 34.684166°N 86.654031°W. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Redstone CDP has a total area of 7.9 square miles (20.4 km²), all of it land. Redstone Arsenal contains extensive wetland areas associated with the Tennessee River
and several local springs, much of which is maintained by the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
.
Euroamerican settlers began to establish homesteads on the land that is now Redstone Arsenal by the first decade of the 19th century. Prior to the Civil War, the landscape was dominated by several large plantations, the remains of which survive as archaeological sites. The land played a peripheral role during the Civil War with activity limited to the posting of pickets along the Tennessee River bank. Following the war, many of the large plantations were increasingly divided into smaller parcels owned by small farmers, who included former slaves and their descendants. By the turn of the century, many of the farms were owned by absentee owners, with the land being worked by tenants and sharecroppers. The remains of hundreds of tenant and sharecropper houses still dot the landscape around the installation.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the approximately 57 square miles (147.6 km²) area of rolling terrain, which contained some of the richest agricultural land in Madison County, included such small farming communities as Spring Hill, Pond Beat, Mullins Flat and Union Hill. Although there was no electricity, indoor plumbing, or telephones; few roads; and fewer cars or tractors, the people who lived in the area that one former resident recalled as being “nearly out of the world” prospered enough to support their own stores, mills, shops, gins, churches, and schools. A total of 46 historic cemeteries including slave cemeteries, plantation family cemeteries, and late 19th to early 20th century community cemeteries are maintained on the installation as Redstone Arsenal cemeteries.
. Over 550 families were displaced when the Army acquired the land, including over 300 tenants and sharecroppers. Most of the landowners were allowed to salvage their assets and rebuild elsewhere. The remaining buildings were almost all razed by the War Department. A land-use agreement was arranged with the Tennessee Valley Authority
for the Army to use about 1250 acres (5.1 km²) of land along the Tennessee River.
The military installation was originally composed of three separate entities: the Huntsville Arsenal and the Huntsville Depot (later the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot), which were operated under the auspices of the Chemical Warfare Service; and the Redstone Ordnance Plant, operated by the Army Ordnance Department. The name Redstone drew on the region's red
rocks
and soil.
In its early years, the arsenal produced and stockpiled chemical weapons such as phosgene
, Lewisite
, and mustard gas. The use of toxic gases in warfare was banned under the Geneva Protocol of 1925, but the U.S. signed with the reservation that it be allowed to use chemical weapons against aggressors who used them. The facility also produced carbonyl iron powder (for radio and radar tuning), tear gas, and smoke and incendiary devices. The arsenal also produced small pyrotechnic devices including small solid-fuel rockets during the war. In recognition of its production record, the arsenal received the Army-Navy ‘E’ Award
four times, the first on October 31, 1942. The ordnance plant was renamed Redstone Arsenal in 1943. Through the war years, more than 27,000,000 items of chemical munitions were produced and 45,200,000 ammunition shells were loaded. Redstone Army Airfield
was established in 1943 for the 6th Army Air Force
to test incendiary devices in preparation for the firebombing of Japanese cities.
Three days after the announcement of the Japanese surrender, production facilities at the installation were put on standby. After the war, Huntsville Arsenal was briefly used as the primary storage facility for the Chemical Warfare Service, and for manufacture of gas masks and dismantling of surplus incendiary bombs. Most of the wartime civilian workforce was furloughed, dropping to 600 from a wartime high of around 4,400. Much of the arsenal land was leased for agriculture, and many of the buildings were leased for local industry. By 1947, the installation was declared to be excess, the first step toward demilitarization.
Major political and commercial efforts were made in searching for government or business tenants for the space. In early 1948, several buildings of Huntsville Arsenal were leased by the newly formed Keller Motors Corporation with the intention of establishing a major automobile manufacturing complex. Only 18 Keller
prototype vehicles were built before the firm’s president and primary organizer, George Keller, suddenly died and the operation folded.
The Army Air Forces was searching for a site to establish a major air development center and considered Huntsville Arsenal. In 1949, a competing site near Tullahoma, Tennessee
was selected. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army then directed that Huntsville Arsenal be advertised for sale by July 1, 1949. The proposed sale never happened, because the Army found it needed the land for the new mission of developing and testing rocket systems. Thiokol Corporation moved operations to Redstone Arsenal from Maryland in the summer of 1949 to research and develop rocket propellants, while Rohm and Haas
began work on rockets and jet propulsion. On June 30, 1949, Huntsville Arsenal was deactivated and consolidated with the other two entities to become Redstone Arsenal. Command responsibilities were assumed by Redstone.
. Col. Holger Toftoy
arranged for 127 individuals, including Wernher von Braun
, to receive contracts for work on Army missiles. In late 1945, they began arriving at Fort Bliss, Texas, where, using components brought from Germany, started upgrading the V-2 missile. Testing was done at the nearby White Sands Proving Ground
in New Mexico
.
On June 1, 1949, the Army Chief of Ordnance designated Redstone Arsenal as the Ordnance Rocket Center, its facility for ordnance rocket research and development. In April 1950, the Fort Bliss missile development operation, then with 130 German contract employees, 120 civil-service employees, and 500 military personnel, was transferred to Redstone Arsenal. This became the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC), with Maj. James Hamill as acting commander and von Braun as technical director). An initial project was the Major tactical missile.
Upon the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, OGMC was given the mission of developing a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with an objective range of 500 miles (804.7 km). Starting with an upgraded Major missile, the design went through a series of improvements and ultimately became the PGM-11 with the popular name Redstone rocket. To expedite development, an existing engine was used, greatly reducing the operational range to between 58 and 200 miles.
During the Korean War, ammunition production was resumed at Redstone Arsenal. From July 1951 through July 1955, near 38,700,000 rounds of chemical artillery munitions were produced.
The Ordnance Missile Laboratories (OML) was formed in 1952 to coordinate research and development within the OGMC. Holger Toftoy, who had originally recruited von Braun and his team of missile specialists, was assigned to Huntsville and promoted to Brigadier General as director of the OML. Test operations were under Kurt Debus
, who set up the Interim Test Stand
and the launch facility at Cape Canaveral, Florida
. Redstone static fire testing began in the spring of 1953, followed by the first launch at Cape Canaveral on August 20, 1953.
In addition to the Redstone rocket development, the OML had many other research and development programs. Under Toftoy, the organization included the R&D Division under Col. Miles Chatfield, the Field Service Division under Maj. Ben Keyserling, and the Industrial Division. In the R&D Division there were the Surface-to-Air Projects under Maj. Rudy Axelson, the Surface-to-Surface Division under Maj. Dan Breedon, and Special Projects under Lt. Colonel John O'Conner. Projects in Surface-to-Air included the Nike B (later called the Nike Hercules
) and others. In Surface-to-Surface was the Honest John
, Little John
, Hawk
, Lacrosse
, and Corporal Type III
; the liquid-fueled Corporal Type III was soon cancelled and the solid Thiokol fueled Sergeant
project initiated. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) at the California Institute of Technology
was an Army research operation at that time, years before NASA. It was JPL that designed the Corporal system and later was the R&D designer of the Sergeant.
In March 1952, the commanding officer at Redstone Arsenal officially established the Provisional Redstone Ordnance School. In December, the Ordnance Guided Missile School (OGMS) was established, taking over the provisional operation. The OGMS greatly expanded through the years, occupying a large land area with many buildings and providing a wide variety of missile and munitions courses for thousands of students from the U.S. as well as many foreign countries. The name was later changed to the Ordnance Missile and Munitions Center and School, and still later the Ordnance Munitions and Electronic Maintenance School.
At a 1954 meeting of the Spaceflight Committee of the American Rocket Society
, von Braun proposed placing a satellite
into orbit using the Redstone with clusters of small solid-fuel rockets on top. The proposal, Project Orbiter
, was rejected in 1955.
(ABMA), commanded by Maj. Gen. John Medaris
, was formed on February 1, 1956, taking over from Redstone Arsenal the facilities and personnel of OGMC. Von Braun was the Director of ABMA's Development Operations Division. Redstone Arsenal then became an Army post, supporting the ABMA and, in the future, other agencies. Medaris also commanded RSA, and BG Toftoy was deputy.
The ABMA's primary mission was developing and fielding the Army's first intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Jupiter
. By August 1958, the system was delivered to the Air Force for early deployment overseas. Jupiter later proved to be a significant bargaining chip in the Cuban Missile Crisis
. During his command, Medaris' operation also fielded the PGM-11 Redstone and MIM-23 Hawk
missiles, accelerated the development of the Nike Zeus system, and began development of the MGM-31 Pershing missile system, which later played a role in ending the Cold War
.
As part of the 1957–58 International Geophysical Year
, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union
proposed to launch a scientific satellite. Although von Braun had proposed in 1954 that the OML could place a satellite in Earth orbit, the Naval Research Laboratory, using its Vanguard rocket, was given this assignment.
On October 4, 1957, the USSR orbited Sputnik I, the first Earth satellite. A second Sputnik was launched a month later. On December 6, 1957, a first attempt to launch a satellite-carrying Vanguard failed. Toftoy, Medaris, and von Braun immediately pleaded for the opportunity to show what the Army's "space team" could do. The go-ahead was given and on January 31, 1958, America's first satellite, Explorer I
, was placed into orbit using a modified Jupiter launch vehicle (a four-stage system designated Juno I
).
The Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) was formed in March 1958. Headquarted at Redstone Arsenal and commanded by Maj. Gen. Medaris, AOMC had several subordinate elements, including ABMA, White Sands Missile Range, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology. Another local activity, the Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency (ARGMA), was formed and added to AOMC in June.
Six months after Explorer I, President President Dwight Eisenhower
created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on July 29, 1958. On October 21, 1959, he approved the transfer of all Army space-related activities to NASA. This was accomplished effective July 1, 1960, when 4,670 civilian employees, about $100 million worth of buildings and equipment, and 1840 acres (7.4 km²) of land transferred from RSA/ABMA's Development Operations Division to NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
. Von Braun was MSFC's first director.
Dating from the start of AMC, Project Nike
involving anti-aircraft missiles had been conducted. As the intercontinental ballistic missile
(ICBM) came into being, a much higher-performance system was needed for ICBM defense. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) examined the requirements and recommending a system, designated Nike-X, incorporating phased-array radars, high-performance computers, and separate low-altitude (Sprint
] and high-altitude (Spartan) high-velocity interceptor missiles. To manage this development, in 1963 MICOM created the Nike-X Project Office headed by Colonel (later Brigadier General) Ivy O. Drewry.
The People's Republic of China
exploded its first nuclear bomb in June 1967. Hence, ABM system requirements were revised and the Sentinel System was born, replacing Nike-X. In 1968, the Army Ballistic Missile Defence Agency (ABMDA) was formed, taking over Sentinel and other ballistic missile defense projects previously under MICOM. Commanded by BG Drewry, ABMDA established operations adjacent to Redstone Arsenal in the Cummings Research Park
. In May 1974, all ballistic missile defense efforts were consolidated under a single manager in the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
, which eventually evolved into today's U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
On July 17, 1997, the former Army Missile Command combined with the aviation portion of the U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command (ATCOM), creating a new organization at RSA, the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
(AMCOM).
, and other operations.
After operating as a tenant on Redstone Arsenal for over half a century, the Ordnance Munitions and Maintenance School was moved to Fort Lee, Virginia
.
Redstone Arsenal continues to host the Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA's field center for propulsion analysis and development, which developed the Saturn rocket family
in the 1960s and propulsion systems for the Space Shuttle
in the 1970s and 80s.
of 2000, there were 2,353 people, 487 households, and 446 families residing in the CDP. The population density
was 300.8 people per square mile (116.2/km²). There were 879 housing units at an average density of 111.8 per square mile (43.2/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 56.5% White
, 31.7% Black
or African American
, 0.4% Native American
, 2.0% Asian
, 0.8% Pacific Islander
, 3.3% from other races
, and 4.8% from two or more races. 9.3% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino
of any race.
There were 487 households out of which 79.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.7% were married couples
living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 8.4% were non-families. 7.8% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.48 and the average family size was 3.67.
The population was spread out with 32.9% under the age of 18, 19.2% from 18 to 24, 43.2% from 25 to 44, 4.6% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 150.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 170.1 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $35,435, and the median income for a family was $40,208. Men had a median income of $29,053 versus $24,063 for females. The per capita income
was $14,860. About 9.0% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
base and a census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) adjacent to Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
in Madison County, Alabama
Madison County, Alabama
Madison County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is a major part of the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The county is named in honor of James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America, and the...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and is part of the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area
Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area
The Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area is the most populated sub-region of North Alabama, and is the second fastest growing region in the State of Alabama, with 510,088 living within the CSA...
. The Arsenal is a garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
for a number of tenants including the United States Army Materiel Command
United States Army Materiel Command
The U.S. Army Materiel Command is the primary provider of materiel to the United States Army.The Command's mission includes the research & development of weapons systems as well as maintenance and parts distribution....
, Army's Aviation and Missile Command
United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command is primarily responsible for life cycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned ground vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle weapon systems. The central part of AMCOM's job involves acquisition and sustainment support for aviation and...
, the Missile Defense Agency
Missile Defense Agency
The Missile Defense Agency is the section of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a layered defense against ballistic missiles. The agency has its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative, which was established in 1983 and was headed by Lt...
of the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
, and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Marshall Space Flight Center
Marshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. The largest center of NASA, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program...
. Many of these units are moving due to decisions by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure
Base Realignment and Closure is a process of the United States federal government directed at the administration and operation of the Armed Forces, used by the United States Department of Defense and Congress to close excess military installations and realign the total asset inventory to reduce...
Commission. The Redstone CDP had a population of 1,946 as of the 2010 census.
Originally a chemical weapons manufacturing facility for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the arsenal became the focal point of the Army’s rocket and space projects, including development of the first U.S. ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles
Launch vehicle
In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....
in the 1950s.
Geography
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
and several local springs, much of which is maintained by the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge
The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge is a 35,000 acre National Wildlife Refuge located along the Tennessee River near Decatur, Alabama...
.
Pre-1941
A total of 651 prehistoric archaeological sites were recorded on Redstone Arsenal to date. At least 22 have components dating to the Paleo-Indian period (9200 to 8000 BC). The Paleo-Indian projectile point called the Redstone Point was named after Redstone Arsenal where it was first identified.Euroamerican settlers began to establish homesteads on the land that is now Redstone Arsenal by the first decade of the 19th century. Prior to the Civil War, the landscape was dominated by several large plantations, the remains of which survive as archaeological sites. The land played a peripheral role during the Civil War with activity limited to the posting of pickets along the Tennessee River bank. Following the war, many of the large plantations were increasingly divided into smaller parcels owned by small farmers, who included former slaves and their descendants. By the turn of the century, many of the farms were owned by absentee owners, with the land being worked by tenants and sharecroppers. The remains of hundreds of tenant and sharecropper houses still dot the landscape around the installation.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the approximately 57 square miles (147.6 km²) area of rolling terrain, which contained some of the richest agricultural land in Madison County, included such small farming communities as Spring Hill, Pond Beat, Mullins Flat and Union Hill. Although there was no electricity, indoor plumbing, or telephones; few roads; and fewer cars or tractors, the people who lived in the area that one former resident recalled as being “nearly out of the world” prospered enough to support their own stores, mills, shops, gins, churches, and schools. A total of 46 historic cemeteries including slave cemeteries, plantation family cemeteries, and late 19th to early 20th century community cemeteries are maintained on the installation as Redstone Arsenal cemeteries.
Huntsville Arsenal
As part of the mobilization leading to U.S. involvement in World War II, Huntsville Arsenal was established in 1941 to create a second chemical weapons plant in addition to one in Edgewood, MarylandEdgewood, Maryland
Edgewood is a census-designated place in Harford County, Maryland, United States. The population was 23,378 at the 2000 census.-History:Pooles Island Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.-Geography:...
. Over 550 families were displaced when the Army acquired the land, including over 300 tenants and sharecroppers. Most of the landowners were allowed to salvage their assets and rebuild elsewhere. The remaining buildings were almost all razed by the War Department. A land-use agreement was arranged with the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
for the Army to use about 1250 acres (5.1 km²) of land along the Tennessee River.
The military installation was originally composed of three separate entities: the Huntsville Arsenal and the Huntsville Depot (later the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot), which were operated under the auspices of the Chemical Warfare Service; and the Redstone Ordnance Plant, operated by the Army Ordnance Department. The name Redstone drew on the region's red
Iron(III) oxide
Iron oxide or ferric oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Fe2O3. It is one of the three main oxides of iron, the other two being iron oxide , which is rare, and iron oxide , which also occurs naturally as the mineral magnetite. As the mineral known as hematite, Fe2O3 is the main...
rocks
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
and soil.
In its early years, the arsenal produced and stockpiled chemical weapons such as phosgene
Phosgene
Phosgene is the chemical compound with the formula COCl2. This colorless gas gained infamy as a chemical weapon during World War I. It is also a valued industrial reagent and building block in synthesis of pharmaceuticals and other organic compounds. In low concentrations, its odor resembles...
, Lewisite
Lewisite
Lewisite is an organoarsenic compound, specifically an arsine. It was once manufactured in the U.S. and Japan as a chemical weapon, acting as a vesicant and lung irritant...
, and mustard gas. The use of toxic gases in warfare was banned under the Geneva Protocol of 1925, but the U.S. signed with the reservation that it be allowed to use chemical weapons against aggressors who used them. The facility also produced carbonyl iron powder (for radio and radar tuning), tear gas, and smoke and incendiary devices. The arsenal also produced small pyrotechnic devices including small solid-fuel rockets during the war. In recognition of its production record, the arsenal received the Army-Navy ‘E’ Award
Army-Navy ‘E’ Award
The Army-Navy "E" Award was an honor presented to a company during World War II for excellence in production of war equipment. The award was also known as the Army-Navy Production Award. The award would consist of a pennant for the plant and emblems for all employees in the plant at the time the...
four times, the first on October 31, 1942. The ordnance plant was renamed Redstone Arsenal in 1943. Through the war years, more than 27,000,000 items of chemical munitions were produced and 45,200,000 ammunition shells were loaded. Redstone Army Airfield
Redstone Army Airfield
Redstone Army Airfield or Redstone AAF is a military airport located at Redstone Arsenal, six miles southwest of the city of Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama, USA. The Airfield was originally constructed for munitions testing through the 6th AAF Base Unit . It is currently used to support...
was established in 1943 for the 6th Army Air Force
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
to test incendiary devices in preparation for the firebombing of Japanese cities.
Three days after the announcement of the Japanese surrender, production facilities at the installation were put on standby. After the war, Huntsville Arsenal was briefly used as the primary storage facility for the Chemical Warfare Service, and for manufacture of gas masks and dismantling of surplus incendiary bombs. Most of the wartime civilian workforce was furloughed, dropping to 600 from a wartime high of around 4,400. Much of the arsenal land was leased for agriculture, and many of the buildings were leased for local industry. By 1947, the installation was declared to be excess, the first step toward demilitarization.
Major political and commercial efforts were made in searching for government or business tenants for the space. In early 1948, several buildings of Huntsville Arsenal were leased by the newly formed Keller Motors Corporation with the intention of establishing a major automobile manufacturing complex. Only 18 Keller
Keller (automobile)
The Keller was an automobile produced by the Keller Motor Corp. of Huntsville, Alabama, United States, between 1948 and 1950. It was based on the earlier Bobbi-Kar produced by the Bobbi Motor Car Corp. of San Diego, California. Keller restyled the Bobbi-Kar and switched power from a four cylinder...
prototype vehicles were built before the firm’s president and primary organizer, George Keller, suddenly died and the operation folded.
The Army Air Forces was searching for a site to establish a major air development center and considered Huntsville Arsenal. In 1949, a competing site near Tullahoma, Tennessee
Tullahoma, Tennessee
-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 18,655 people, 7,717 households, and 5,161 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 88.1% White, 7.0% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races...
was selected. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army then directed that Huntsville Arsenal be advertised for sale by July 1, 1949. The proposed sale never happened, because the Army found it needed the land for the new mission of developing and testing rocket systems. Thiokol Corporation moved operations to Redstone Arsenal from Maryland in the summer of 1949 to research and develop rocket propellants, while Rohm and Haas
Rohm and Haas
Rohm and Haas Company, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based company, manufactures miscellaneous materials. Formerly a Fortune 500 Company, Rohm and Haas employs more than 17,000 people in 27 countries, with its last sales revenue reported as an independent company at USD 8.9 billion. On July 10,...
began work on rockets and jet propulsion. On June 30, 1949, Huntsville Arsenal was deactivated and consolidated with the other two entities to become Redstone Arsenal. Command responsibilities were assumed by Redstone.
Army Ordnance Corps
At the close of World War II, a number of key German scientists and engineers were brought to the United States under Operation PaperclipOperation Paperclip
Operation Paperclip was the Office of Strategic Services program used to recruit the scientists of Nazi Germany for employment by the United States in the aftermath of World War II...
. Col. Holger Toftoy
Holger Toftoy
Major General Holger Nelson Toftoy was a United States Army officer linked to early rocketry such as the Redstone missile....
arranged for 127 individuals, including Wernher von Braun
Wernher von Braun
Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was a German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and in the United States after that.A former member of the Nazi party,...
, to receive contracts for work on Army missiles. In late 1945, they began arriving at Fort Bliss, Texas, where, using components brought from Germany, started upgrading the V-2 missile. Testing was done at the nearby White Sands Proving Ground
White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range...
in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
On June 1, 1949, the Army Chief of Ordnance designated Redstone Arsenal as the Ordnance Rocket Center, its facility for ordnance rocket research and development. In April 1950, the Fort Bliss missile development operation, then with 130 German contract employees, 120 civil-service employees, and 500 military personnel, was transferred to Redstone Arsenal. This became the Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC), with Maj. James Hamill as acting commander and von Braun as technical director). An initial project was the Major tactical missile.
Upon the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, OGMC was given the mission of developing a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with an objective range of 500 miles (804.7 km). Starting with an upgraded Major missile, the design went through a series of improvements and ultimately became the PGM-11 with the popular name Redstone rocket. To expedite development, an existing engine was used, greatly reducing the operational range to between 58 and 200 miles.
During the Korean War, ammunition production was resumed at Redstone Arsenal. From July 1951 through July 1955, near 38,700,000 rounds of chemical artillery munitions were produced.
The Ordnance Missile Laboratories (OML) was formed in 1952 to coordinate research and development within the OGMC. Holger Toftoy, who had originally recruited von Braun and his team of missile specialists, was assigned to Huntsville and promoted to Brigadier General as director of the OML. Test operations were under Kurt Debus
Kurt H. Debus
Kurt Heinrich Debus was a German V-2 rocket scientist during World War II who, after being brought to the United States under Operation Paperclip, became the first director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 1962. Debus' U.S...
, who set up the Interim Test Stand
Redstone Test Stand
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...
and the launch facility at Cape Canaveral, Florida
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is an installation of the United States Air Force Space Command's 45th Space Wing, headquartered at nearby Patrick Air Force Base. Located on Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida, CCAFS is the primary launch head of America's Eastern Range with four launch pads...
. Redstone static fire testing began in the spring of 1953, followed by the first launch at Cape Canaveral on August 20, 1953.
In addition to the Redstone rocket development, the OML had many other research and development programs. Under Toftoy, the organization included the R&D Division under Col. Miles Chatfield, the Field Service Division under Maj. Ben Keyserling, and the Industrial Division. In the R&D Division there were the Surface-to-Air Projects under Maj. Rudy Axelson, the Surface-to-Surface Division under Maj. Dan Breedon, and Special Projects under Lt. Colonel John O'Conner. Projects in Surface-to-Air included the Nike B (later called the Nike Hercules
Project Nike
Project Nike was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the Nike Ajax, in 1953...
) and others. In Surface-to-Surface was the Honest John
MGR-1 Honest John
The MGR-1 Honest John rocket was the first nuclear-capable surface-to-surface rocket in the US arsenal.The first nuclear-authorized guided missile was the MGM-5 Corporal. Designated Artillery Rocket XM31, the first such rocket was tested 29 June 1951 and the first production rounds were delivered...
, Little John
MGR-3 Little John
The MGR-3 Little John was a free flight artillery rocket system designed and put into service by the U.S. Army during the 1950s and 1960s.-Description:...
, Hawk
MIM-23 Hawk
The Raytheon MIM-23 Hawk is a U.S. medium range surface-to-air missile. The Hawk was initially designed to destroy aircraft and was later adapted to destroy other missiles in flight. The missile entered service in 1960, and a program of extensive upgrades has kept it from becoming obsolete. It was...
, Lacrosse
MGM-18 Lacrosse
The MGM-18 Lacrosse was a short-ranged tactical ballistic weapon intended for close support of ground troops.Its first flight test was in 1954 and was deployed by the United States Army beginning in 1959, despite being still in the development stage...
, and Corporal Type III
MGM-5 Corporal
The MGM-5 Corporal missile was the first guided weapon authorized by the United States to carry a nuclear warhead.The first nuclear-authorized unguided rocket was the MGR-1 Honest John...
; the liquid-fueled Corporal Type III was soon cancelled and the solid Thiokol fueled Sergeant
MGM-29 Sergeant
The MGM-29 Sergeant was an American short-range, solid fuel, surface-to-surface missile developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Activated by the US Army in 1962 to replace the MGM-5 Corporal it was deployed overseas by 1963, carrying the W52 nuclear warhead or alternatively one of high explosives...
project initiated. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
(JPL) at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
was an Army research operation at that time, years before NASA. It was JPL that designed the Corporal system and later was the R&D designer of the Sergeant.
In March 1952, the commanding officer at Redstone Arsenal officially established the Provisional Redstone Ordnance School. In December, the Ordnance Guided Missile School (OGMS) was established, taking over the provisional operation. The OGMS greatly expanded through the years, occupying a large land area with many buildings and providing a wide variety of missile and munitions courses for thousands of students from the U.S. as well as many foreign countries. The name was later changed to the Ordnance Missile and Munitions Center and School, and still later the Ordnance Munitions and Electronic Maintenance School.
At a 1954 meeting of the Spaceflight Committee of the American Rocket Society
American Rocket Society
The American Rocket Society began its existence on April 4, 1930, under the name of the American Interplanetary Society. It was founded by science fiction writers G. Edward Pendray, David Lasser, Laurence Manning and others. The members originally conducted their own rocket experiments in New York...
, von Braun proposed placing a satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
into orbit using the Redstone with clusters of small solid-fuel rockets on top. The proposal, Project Orbiter
Project Orbiter
Project Orbiter was a proposed United States spacecraft, an early competitor to Project Vanguard. It was jointly run by the United States Army and United States Navy. It was ultimately rejected by the Ad Hoc Committee on Special Capabilities, which selected Project Vanguard instead...
, was rejected in 1955.
Army Ballistic Missile Agency
The Army Ballistic Missile AgencyArmy Ballistic Missile Agency
The Army Ballistic Missile Agency was the agency formed to develop the US Army's first intermediate range ballistic missile. It was established at Redstone Arsenal on February 1, 1956 and commanded by Major General John B...
(ABMA), commanded by Maj. Gen. John Medaris
John Bruce Medaris
John Bruce Medaris was a U.S Army officer who was commander of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency during the 1950s. During this period, the agency developed the Redstone, Jupiter-C, and Saturn I....
, was formed on February 1, 1956, taking over from Redstone Arsenal the facilities and personnel of OGMC. Von Braun was the Director of ABMA's Development Operations Division. Redstone Arsenal then became an Army post, supporting the ABMA and, in the future, other agencies. Medaris also commanded RSA, and BG Toftoy was deputy.
The ABMA's primary mission was developing and fielding the Army's first intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Jupiter
Jupiter (missile)
The PGM-19 Jupiter was the first medium-range ballistic missile of the United States Air Force . It was a liquid-fueled rocket using RP-1 fuel and LOX oxidizer, with a single Rocketdyne LR70-NA rocket engine producing 667 kN of thrust...
. By August 1958, the system was delivered to the Air Force for early deployment overseas. Jupiter later proved to be a significant bargaining chip in the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
. During his command, Medaris' operation also fielded the PGM-11 Redstone and MIM-23 Hawk
MIM-23 Hawk
The Raytheon MIM-23 Hawk is a U.S. medium range surface-to-air missile. The Hawk was initially designed to destroy aircraft and was later adapted to destroy other missiles in flight. The missile entered service in 1960, and a program of extensive upgrades has kept it from becoming obsolete. It was...
missiles, accelerated the development of the Nike Zeus system, and began development of the MGM-31 Pershing missile system, which later played a role in ending the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
.
As part of the 1957–58 International Geophysical Year
International Geophysical Year
The International Geophysical Year was an international scientific project that lasted from July 1, 1957, to December 31, 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War when scientific interchange between East and West was seriously interrupted...
, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
proposed to launch a scientific satellite. Although von Braun had proposed in 1954 that the OML could place a satellite in Earth orbit, the Naval Research Laboratory, using its Vanguard rocket, was given this assignment.
On October 4, 1957, the USSR orbited Sputnik I, the first Earth satellite. A second Sputnik was launched a month later. On December 6, 1957, a first attempt to launch a satellite-carrying Vanguard failed. Toftoy, Medaris, and von Braun immediately pleaded for the opportunity to show what the Army's "space team" could do. The go-ahead was given and on January 31, 1958, America's first satellite, Explorer I
Explorer I
Explorer 1 was the first Earth satellite of the United States, launched as part of its participation in the International Geophysical Year...
, was placed into orbit using a modified Jupiter launch vehicle (a four-stage system designated Juno I
Juno I
The Juno I was a four-stage American booster rocket which launched America's first satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. A member of the Redstone rocket family, it was derived from the Jupiter-C sounding rocket...
).
The Army Ordnance Missile Command (AOMC) was formed in March 1958. Headquarted at Redstone Arsenal and commanded by Maj. Gen. Medaris, AOMC had several subordinate elements, including ABMA, White Sands Missile Range, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology. Another local activity, the Army Rocket and Guided Missile Agency (ARGMA), was formed and added to AOMC in June.
Six months after Explorer I, President President Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on July 29, 1958. On October 21, 1959, he approved the transfer of all Army space-related activities to NASA. This was accomplished effective July 1, 1960, when 4,670 civilian employees, about $100 million worth of buildings and equipment, and 1840 acres (7.4 km²) of land transferred from RSA/ABMA's Development Operations Division to NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Marshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. The largest center of NASA, MSFC's first mission was developing the Saturn launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program...
. Von Braun was MSFC's first director.
Army Missile Command
The U.S. Army Missile Command (MICOM) was activated on August 1, 1962 at Redstone Arsenal, absorbing all of the personnel, facilities, and projects remaining in the prior AOMC. On March 12, 1964, the Francis J. McMorrow Missile Laboratories were dedicated in memory of MICOM's first commander, who died while in command.Dating from the start of AMC, Project Nike
Project Nike
Project Nike was a U.S. Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Laboratories, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the Nike Ajax, in 1953...
involving anti-aircraft missiles had been conducted. As the intercontinental ballistic missile
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...
(ICBM) came into being, a much higher-performance system was needed for ICBM defense. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) examined the requirements and recommending a system, designated Nike-X, incorporating phased-array radars, high-performance computers, and separate low-altitude (Sprint
Sprint (missile)
The Sprint was a two-stage, solid-fuel anti-ballistic missile, armed with a W66 enhanced radiation thermonuclear warhead. It was designed as the short-range high-speed counterpart to the longer-range LIM-49 Spartan as part of the Sentinel program. Sentinel never became operational, but the...
] and high-altitude (Spartan) high-velocity interceptor missiles. To manage this development, in 1963 MICOM created the Nike-X Project Office headed by Colonel (later Brigadier General) Ivy O. Drewry.
The People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
exploded its first nuclear bomb in June 1967. Hence, ABM system requirements were revised and the Sentinel System was born, replacing Nike-X. In 1968, the Army Ballistic Missile Defence Agency (ABMDA) was formed, taking over Sentinel and other ballistic missile defense projects previously under MICOM. Commanded by BG Drewry, ABMDA established operations adjacent to Redstone Arsenal in the Cummings Research Park
Cummings Research Park
Cummings Research Park, located primarily in the city of Huntsville, Alabama is the second largest research park in the United States, and the fourth largest in the world. The Research Triangle Park in North Carolina is the only research park in the United States that is larger. Cummings Research...
. In May 1974, all ballistic missile defense efforts were consolidated under a single manager in the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization was an agency of the United States Department of Defense that began on 20 May 1974 with the responsibility for all U.S. ballistic missile defense efforts. It evolved from the SAFEGUARD System Organization. The original mission of BMDO was comparable to...
, which eventually evolved into today's U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
On July 17, 1997, the former Army Missile Command combined with the aviation portion of the U.S. Army Aviation and Troop Command (ATCOM), creating a new organization at RSA, the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command is primarily responsible for life cycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned ground vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle weapon systems. The central part of AMCOM's job involves acquisition and sustainment support for aviation and...
(AMCOM).
Redstone Arsenal today
Redstone Arsenal remains the center of testing, development, and doctrine for the Army's missile programs. Besides the U.S. Army Materiel Command and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command, Redstone houses the Tactical UAV Project Office, Redstone Test Center (RTC), the Missile Defense Agency, the Missile and Space Intelligence CenterMissile and Space Intelligence Center
The Missile and Space Intelligence Center is an intelligence organization that is part of the Defense Intelligence Agency of the United States. MSIC is located at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.-History:...
, and other operations.
After operating as a tenant on Redstone Arsenal for over half a century, the Ordnance Munitions and Maintenance School was moved to Fort Lee, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
Redstone Arsenal continues to host the Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA's field center for propulsion analysis and development, which developed the Saturn rocket family
Saturn (rocket family)
The Saturn family of American rocket boosters was developed by a team of mostly German rocket scientists led by Wernher von Braun to launch heavy payloads to Earth orbit and beyond. Originally proposed as a military satellite launcher, they were adopted as the launch vehicles for the Apollo moon...
in the 1960s and propulsion systems for the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
in the 1970s and 80s.
Demographics
As of the censusUnited States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
of 2000, there were 2,353 people, 487 households, and 446 families residing in the CDP. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 300.8 people per square mile (116.2/km²). There were 879 housing units at an average density of 111.8 per square mile (43.2/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 56.5% White
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 31.7% Black
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or African American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.4% Native American
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 2.0% Asian
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 0.8% Pacific Islander
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, 3.3% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 4.8% from two or more races. 9.3% of the population were Hispanic
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
or Latino
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
of any race.
There were 487 households out of which 79.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 8.4% were non-families. 7.8% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.48 and the average family size was 3.67.
The population was spread out with 32.9% under the age of 18, 19.2% from 18 to 24, 43.2% from 25 to 44, 4.6% from 45 to 64, and 0.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 150.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 170.1 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $35,435, and the median income for a family was $40,208. Men had a median income of $29,053 versus $24,063 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
was $14,860. About 9.0% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.