Huntsville Defense News

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U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command 

  The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) 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 missile systems throughout their life cycle. The command is headquarted at Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Alabama.

AMCOM works closely with the Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) that 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.

AMCOM's Test, Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment 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.

Missile Defense Agency

 The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is a research, development, and acquisition agency within the Department of Defense. Our workforce includes government civilians, military service members, and contractor personnel in multiple locations across the United States. We are focused on retaining and recruiting a dedicated workforce interested in supporting our national security.

As we develop, test, and field an integrated Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), the MDA works closely with the Combatant Commanders (e.g. Pacific Command, Northern Command, etc.) who will rely on the system to protect the United States, our forward deployed forces, and our friends and allies from hostile ballistic missile attack. We work with the Combatant Commanders to ensure that we develop a robust BMDS technology and development program to address the challenges of an evolving threat. We are also steadily increasing our international cooperation by supporting mutual security interests in missile defense.

The MDA is committed to maximizing the mission assurance and cost effectiveness of our management and operations through continuous process improvement.

U.S. Army Space Missile and Defense Command

The SMDC/ARSTRAT is built upon a lengthy history of achievement in space and missile defense. Since 1957, when the Army created the first program office for ballistic missile defense, the command has dedicated itself to missile defense research, development and deployment. In December 1962, the command made history with the first successful intercept of an ICBM reentry vehicle with the Nike-Zeus. History was repeated in the 1980s with a new non-nuclear technology. The kinetic energy concept of “hitting a bullet with a bullet” was first proven in June 1984 with the intercept of an ICBM warhead in the Homing Overlay Experiment. In 1987, the Flexible Lightweight Agile Guided Experiment confirmed the concept against shorter-range tactical missiles. Nearly a decade later, the command demonstrated the missile defense applications of directed energy systems. In February 1996, the Mid Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser destroyed a short-range rocket in flight. 

NASA- National Aeronautics Space and  Administration

 From the roar of mighty rocket engines to extraordinary scientific discoveries about our world and our universe, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., stands at the forefront of the nation’s space exploration mission -- just as it has done for five decades.

The Marshall Center became NASA's first field center July 1, 1960. Today it supports the whole spectrum of the agency's crucial work: propulsion, engineering, science, space operations, and project and program management. With its talented, skilled and diverse work force; extensive practical experience; and state-of-the-art laboratories and test facilities, Marshall thrives at the intersection of science and exploration.

What do we seek to accomplish? The answer to that question hasn't changed in 50 years: discoveries that increase our understanding of the cosmos and our place in it; improve our ability to safely live and work in space; and deliver practical breakthroughs here on Earth that protect the planet and improve life for all humanity. 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, is a specialized agency of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Huntsville Center missions involve programs that are national or broad in scope; require integrated facilities that cross geographical boundaries; require commonality, standardization, multiple-site adaptation, or technology transfer; require a centralized management structure for the effective control of program development, coordination, and execution; or require services not normally provided by other Corps elements.

BRAC- Base Realignment and Closure 

"BRAC" is an acronym which stands for base realignment and closure. It is the process that the Department of Defense (DoD) has previously used to reorganize its installation infrastructure to more efficiently and effectively support its forces, increase operational readiness and facilitate new ways of doing business.

The 2005 BRAC initiative has resulted in the move of thousands of DoD jobs and support positions to Redstone Arsenal and the surrounding area. Since the approval of the initial BRAC decision in 2005, almost 2,000 of the estimated 4,700 Army and other federal agency jobs moving to Redstone have arrived. The balance of positions are expected to arrive late 2010 through mid-2011.

In addition, the BRAC positions relocating to Redstone Arsenal are expected to generate more than 5,000 other defense and aerospace jobs and more than 9,000 indirect jobs in the service and support sectors. 

Other Area News - Huntsville, Alabama and Surrounding Areas

Huntsville/Madison County routinely makes national headlines for being a smart place to work. The primary economic sectors of aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, information technology and life sciences continue to grow and provide great career opportunities. More than 200,000 people from across the region are employed by one of Huntsville/Madison County’s largest employers or one of the hundreds of small businesses. Marshall Space Flight Center, one of NASA's field centers, anchors the local arospace industry. A significant portion of Huntsville/Madison County’s growth is attributable to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission’s decision to move more than 4,500 direct jobs to Redstone Arsenal. These moves are taking place through 2011, creating openings within the civil service and private sector for thousands of workers. BRAC will also create thousands of additional jobs across all sectors.