Air Force Missile Development Center

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Air Force Missile Development Center
Air Force Missile Development Center sign in 1958
Active1 September 1957[2]-1 August 1970[3]
CountryUnited States
BranchUnited States Air Force, assigned to:

with predecessors assigned to:

RoleResearch & Development
SCR-270 radar at Holloman.)[5]

The Air Force Missile Development Center and its predecessors were Cold War units that conducted and supported numerous missile tests using facilities at Holloman Air Force Base, where the center was the host unit ("Holloman" and "Development Center" were sometimes colloquially used to identify military installations in the Tularosa Basin).

Background

Planned for

Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range was designated on 14 May 1942.[7] On 27 May 1942 the USAAF base was designated Alamogordo Field Training Station for range support and was subsequently[when?] named Alamogordo Army Air Base.[7]

359th Base Headquarters

The 359th Base Headquarters was the base operating unit for Alamorgordo AAB beginning on 10 June 1942, and the base was redesignated Alamogordo Army Air Field on 21 November 1942 and supported numerous WWII Bomber Groups (range targets were added in late 1942.)

White Sands Proving Ground (WSPG) facilities on 25 June 1945.[9]

On 25 March 1944, the 231st AAF BU became the base operating unit, and in 1946 the

White Sands Proving Ground merged to become the New Mexico Joint Guided Missile Test Range.[7]: 248  The former USAAF air base was designated Holloman Air Force Base on 14 January 1948, and the 2754th Air Force Base was its host unit after being established from the 4145th AFBU on 15 August 1948 (the 2754th AFB unit's "Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron" were established by 15 December 1948).[13]

Alamogordo Guided Missile Test Base

The Alamogordo Guided Missile Test Base near Holloman AFB continued to be used for testing in 1948 and later

AFMTC in Florida,[2] and the 2754th subsequently developed additional launch support sites at/near the former bombing range (e.g., Four Bits Peak Instrumentation Annex assigned June 1949 "7 mi ESE of Alamogordo, NM").[7] In March 1949, the 2754th took "control of [the Army's range] support airfield, Condron Field...from Biggs Army Air Field at Fort Bliss."[9] The 2754th and subsequent units' launches at the test base and other sites such as for the Tiny Tim (the first Army rocket), GAM-63 RASCAL, and XQ-2 Drone,[citation needed
] e.g.:

Reorganizations changed the Holloman wing's name to the 2754th Experimental Wing (on 20 September 1949

2d Guided Missiles Squadron was a subordinate from 25 October-30 December 1950), the 6540th Missile Test Group (30 June 1951, later 6580th Missile Test Group on 1 September 1952) which had an "Aero-Medical Sub-Unit...to support the Aeromedical Field Laboratory."[2] In May 1952, an additional 40 mi × 117 mi (64 km × 188 km) area was set aside to add to the "Alamogordo bombing range, White Sands proving ground, and the Fort Bliss antiaircraft range".[24]

The 1958 cover of the base handbook featured the emblem of the Air Force Missile Development Center

Development centers

The Holloman Air Development Test Center (later Holloman Air Development Center, HADC)

first human tests in the rocket sled firings,[28] and Ham, a chimpanzee, who went through astronaut training in 1959.[29]

The Air Force Missile Development Center (AFMDC. "AF Mil Dev Test Cen") was designated from HADC on 1 September 1957,

Matador missile from the center crashed in western Colorado[30] (the joint range was renamed White Sands Missile Range on 1 May 1958)[7]: 248  The 6571st Aeromedical Research Laboratory was activated 1 December 1961 as an AFMDC unit,[citation needed] and the center's Twin Buttes Instrumentation Annex "16 mi SSW of Alamogordo, NM" (assigned December 1949) transferred under the WSMR Army headquarters in November 1963.[7]

6585th Test Group

The AFMDC and the 6571st lab were inactivated on 1 August 1970;

6585th Test Group was established as a tenant of Tactical Air Command, to which Holloman AFB transferred. Associate units[specify] and programs transferred to other locations within Air Force Systems Command. In addition to the Holloman High Speed Test Track operated by the 6585th's "Armaments Division" in 1974,[31] remaining facilities included the Central Inertial Guidance Test Facility (CIGTF), the Radar Target Scatter Facility (RATSCAT), and the Target Drone Facility.[citation needed
]

External videos
video icon Holloman Range Control (minute 4:55)

References

  1. ^ "New Missile Book, and Blue Fly" (PDF). December 2011. Archived from the original (Letters to AAFM) on 18 May 2014. Blue Fly, to exploit Soviet hardware when it comes more or less permanently into US or allied hands, Round Robin, to exploit Soviet hardware when it comes temporarily into US hands (e.g. Russian aircraft landing at international or US airfields) and Moon Dust, to exploit big booster or missile and satellite equipment which fell from the air hence the name applied (e.g. the piece of Soviet equipment which fell into Wisconsin). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "History of Research in Space Biology and Biodynamics at the Air Force Missile Development Center" (PDF). Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. 1946–1958. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2014. Project MX-1450R, Physiology of Rocket Flight ... Standards Laboratory at Holloman ... Scott Crossfield and the Air Force's Major Charles E. Yeager both flew a number of Keplerian trajectories ... in January 1953 [the Aeromedical Field Laboratory] became a function of the local [Holloman Air Development] Center ... the Aeromedical Field Laboratory in 1953 was placed directly under the Center's 6580th Test Group, and was thus on an equal standing with the 6580th Missile Test Squadron and the 6580th Special Test Squadron (which in turn included the Holloman Balloon Unit) ... in 1956 the Aromedical Field Laboratory was made part of a newly created Directorate of Research and Development. ... test installation
  3. ^ a b Air Force Systems Command Special Order G-94
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-557-00029-6
  5. ^ Stanley G. Zabetakis; John F. Peterson (Fall 1964). "The Diyarbakir Radar" (PDF). CIA.
  6. ^ a b Michael Welsh (1995). "Dunes and Dreams: A History of White Sands National Monument" (PDF). As early as January 30, 1946, he wrote to the regional director that "the [Alamogordo Army Air Base] will be manned by a skeleton crew merely as a plane refueling station, emergency landings, etc. ..." The Engineers' property division had "acquired the fee simple title to all private owned lands within the Fort Bliss Anti-Aircraft Range, has the exclusive use of all private lands and interests within the Alamogordo Bombing Range until 1967 ..."
  7. ^
    ISBN 0-912799-53-6
    . Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  8. ^ [full citation needed]Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
  9. ^ a b c d e Peter L. Eidenbach. "A Brief History of White Sands Proving Ground 1941–1965" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 October 2014.
  10. ^ AFHRA Document 00179518, Pictorial Brochure of the Special Weapons Field Test Unit, Wendover Army Air Base, Utah
  11. ^ "Holloman Air Force Base – Alamogordo, New Mexico".
  12. ^ Integration of the Holloman-White Sands Ranges, 1947–1952 (2nd Edition, 1957)
  13. ^ "United States v. Allen". Court-Martial Reports of the Judge Advocate General of the Air Force. LLMC.
  14. ^ Alamogordo Guided Missile Test Base: Progress Summary Report (Air Force History Index.org abstract) (Report). 1948. iris 01013761. Retrieved 3 October 2013. Early Warning Radars Razon, Radio Controlled Bombs Tarzon, Radio Controlled Bombs Radar Development
  15. ^ Bushnell, David (25 August 1986). GAPA: Holloman's First Missile Program (Scribd.com image) (Report). Air Force Missile Development Center: Historical Branch. iris 00169113. Retrieved 11 August 2013. [1st ramjet GAPA] "was launched 14 November 1947 and the initial liquid-fuel variety 12 March 1948.8 ... The last of the GAPAs, number 114, was launched 15 August 1950, and the project officially terminated at Holloman the following month.11 (date identified at [1])
  16. ^ Meeter, George F. (1967). The Holloman Story: Eyewitness accounts of Space Age research. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. p. 47.
    OCLC 1430870
    . Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  17. ISBN 978-1-56311-455-7
    .
  18. ^ "Untitled" (PDF). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ^ "Hughes AIM-4 Falcon".
  20. ^ Van Citters, Karen; Bissen, Kristen (June 2003). National Register of Historic Places: Historic Context and Evaluation for Kirland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013. first operational Genie rockets onto F-89J aircraft. Problems cleared during 1956 included rocket fin modifications, rocket engine temperature control and storage matters, final testing of systems components, flight-testing and examining possible weapon vulnerability, and hazards in operational situations. Results of ground firings at Holloman Air Development Center in 1956 revealed a fin instability problem.
  21. ^ "Highlights – 500th Balloon Launch". HiddenHolloman website. 1 September 2012. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014. (cites "Chronology of Events, Air Force Missile Development Center 1941–1958, AFHRA IRIS 0487401")
  22. ^ "SM-73 Bull Goose". FAS.org. 1997. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
  23. ^ Lake, Dale (Fall 2008). "Call Sign Updates". TAC Missileers. 10 (3). Archived from the original (newsletter) on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2013. The AN/MSQ/1A Training was done at the small community of Bonn, near Ramstein Air Base.
  24. ^ "New Mexico Area Will Be Missile Range". The Milwaukee Journal. 28 May 1952.
  25. ^ "Holloman Air Force Base – Fact Sheet (Printable) : 96TH TEST GROUP HISTORY". Archived from the original on 15 March 2013.
  26. ^ Weitze, Karen J. (November 1999). Cold War Infrastructure for Strategic Air Command: The Bomber Mission (PDF) (Report). United States Army Corps of Engineers. p. 3. Retrieved 15 August 2013. German scientific-engineering community of World War II are many and subtle. Those who stayed within the U.S. military civil service system often worked at the GS-15 to GS-17 level—the uppermost grade levels within the system. Those who left were behind the scenes in noteworthy places. … Examples include Dr. Ernst A . Steinhoff, Dr. Martin Schilling, and Dr. Bruno Balke, among many. (see also:
    Weitze, Karen. 1997. "Guided Missiles at Holloman Air Force Base: Test Programs of the United States Air Force in Southern New Mexico, 1947–1970." Alamogordo: Holloman Air Force Base.
  27. ^ a b Bushnell, David (1958). History of Research in Space Biology and Biodynamics at the Air Force Missile Development Center, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico 1946–1958. James Stephen Hanrahan, Chief of Historical Office. Holloman Air Force Base: United States Air Force, Air Force Missile Development Center. Archived from the original on 6 July 2009. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
  28. ^
    ISBN 978-0-387-36053-9
    . Retrieved 17 August 2009.
  29. ^ Gray, Tara (1998). "A Brief History of Animals in Space". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  30. ^ "Missile Goes Wild, Crashes in Rockies". The Milwaukee Journal. 21 February 1957.
  31. ^ The Holloman Track (Report). Holloman Air Force Base: Armament Division. 1974. (cited by NRHP nomination) Archived 2014-05-18 at the Wayback Machine
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