The Pershing Project Manager's Office (PPMO) was the U.S. Army agency responsible for the systems management and engineering of the

Pershing missile The MGM-31A Pershing was the missile used in the Pershing 1 and Pershing 1a field artillery missile systems. It was a solid-fueled two-stage theater ballistic missile designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile ...

systems.

History

Pershing management was initially under the

Army Ballistic Missile Agency The Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) was formed to develop the U.S. Army's first large ballistic missile. The agency was established at Redstone Arsenal on 1 February 1956, and commanded by Major General John B. Medaris with Wernher von B ...

(ABMA) at

Redstone Arsenal Redstone Arsenal (RSA) is a United States Army post 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 garriso ...

, Alabama in 1958. ABMA was initially a group under the

Army Ordnance Missile Command The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) develops, acquires, fields and sustains aviation, missile and unmanned aerial vehicles. AMCOM is primarily responsible for lifecycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned gro ...

(AOMC). On 11 December 1961, ABMA was abolished and the personnel and mission moved directly to AOMC. The

United States Army Missile Command The United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) develops, acquires, fields and sustains aviation, missile and unmanned aerial vehicles. AMCOM is primarily responsible for lifecycle management of army missile, helicopter, unmanned g ...

(MICOM) was activated at Redstone Arsenal on 23 May 1962; Pershing and other project offices were transferred. On 31 January 1977, MICOM was split into the

United States Army Missile Materiel Readiness Command United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(MIRCOM) and the United States Army Missile Research and Development Command (MIRADCOM). On 1 July 1979, MIRCOM and MIRADCOM were disestablished and combined again into MICOM. On 1 May 1987, the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Fire Support was established at Redstone Arsenal and the PPMO was transferred. After the

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles; / ДРСМ� ...

(INF) between the United States and the USSR became effective on 1 June 1988, the PPMO returned to MICOM in March 1989. Responsibility for Pershing project management was placed under the direction of the newly established MICOM Weapon Systems Management Directorate on 27 August 1989. The PPMO operated the Pershing Modification and Repair Activity in Frankfurt, Germany, commonly known as the Mod Shop, which performed depot-level repairs and modified Pershing equipment as required. The shop was run by a warrant officer assigned to the PPMO with several enlisted soldiers and over fifty civilians employed by

Martin Marietta Aerospace The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Marie ...

Decorations

Superior Unit Award The Superior Unit Award is a decoration of the United States Army which is awarded in peacetime to any unit of the Army which displays outstanding meritorious performance of a difficult and challenging mission carried out under extraordinary circum ...

(August 1989 – June 1991)

Project managers

* Col. Oliver M. Hirsch (August 1962 – October 1963) * Col. Edwin L. Donley (October 1963 – June 1966) * Carl A. Pinyerd - acting (1966) * Col. Edwin A. Rudd (June 1966 – June 1969) * Col.

Rutledge P. Hazzard Rutledge Parker "Hap" Hazzard (April 11, 1925 – December 27, 2008) was director of Science and Technology division of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1973 to 1978. He became director of the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPI ...

(June 1969 – December 1970) * Col. Samuel C. Skemp, Jr. (December 1970 – August 1976) * Col. Larry H. Hunt (August 1976 – May 1979) * Col. William J. Fiorentino (May 1979 – April 1984) * Col. Robert A. Brown (April 1984 – March 1986) * Col. Thomas M. Brown (March 1986 – March 1989)

References

External links

Edwin L. Donley
at the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame

at the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame {{Pershing missile Pershing missile