U.S. Army Materiel Development And Readiness Command

The U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) is the primary provider of materiel to the United States Army. The command's mission includes the management of installations, as well as maintenance and parts distribution.

AMC operates depots; arsenals; ammunition plants; and other facilities, and maintains the Army's prepositioned stocks, both on land and afloat.

The command is also the Department of Defense Executive Agent for the chemical weapons stockpile and for conventional ammunition.

AMC is responsible for the business of selling United States Army equipment and services to allies of the United States and negotiates and implements agreements for co-production of U.S. weapons systems by other states.

History

AMC was established on 8 May 1962, and later was activated on 1 August of that year as a major field command of the U.S. Army. Prior to its creation, Lt. Gen. Frank S. Besson, Jr. directed a Department of the Army study to be conducted, of which recommended the creation of a "materiel development and logistics command". He would serve as the AMC's first commander.

As part of the formation of AMC, various field activities and installations were transferred into it. Those field activities and installations came primarily from six of the technical services: Chief Chemical Officer, Chief of Engineers, Chief of Ordnance (the largest single source of AMC installations), the Quartermaster General, Chief Signal Officer, and the Chief of Transportation. The seventh technical service, the Surgeon General, provided one medical depot. Several other installations and activities came from Headquarters, Department of the Army (DA) Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, the Continental Army Command, and the Chief of Research and Development.

Since its creation in 1962, the Army Materiel Command (AMC) underwent constant reorganizations and realignments in its headquarters and numerous field commands. These conditions reflected a more fundamental problem, chronic dissatisfaction with the Army’s entire system for developing and fielding new weapons and equipment. A special Army Materiel Acquisition Review Committee on 1 April 1974 recommended sweeping organizational and management reforms.

On 23 January 1976, AMC was redesignated the U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command (DARCOM). DARCOM commander Gen. John R. Deane Jr. best summed up the renaming's purpose, which was "to emphasize that readiness is a part of our business."

Materiel development and materiel readiness newly became the two major organizational elements within the command. The former, materiel development, is responsible for research and development, producer tests and evaluation, and initial procurement of weapons and supporting equipment. The latter, materiel readiness, is responsible for buying, fielding, and maintaining these systems.

As part of this reorganization, the commands formerly managed by AMC were broken into separate commands for research and development, and readiness. Accordingly, during fiscal year 1976 the Tank-Automotive Command (TACOM) became the Tank-Automotive Research and Development Command and the Tank-Automotive Materiel Readiness Command. The Missile and the Armaments Commands were similarly divided.

On 1 August 1984, DARCOM was redesignated as AMC. The reason for the change was to "remove a perceived boundary between development and logistics support implied in the DARCOM name". Additionally, it was said that the conciseness and clarity of the name AMC "ouldbe better understood by allies and the general public."

In December 2024, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, "in a dramatic and rare move," dismissed General Charles R. Hamilton, the AMC commanding general, following an Army investigation that concluded he had improperly intervened to arrange a battalion command position for a female lieutenant colonel he favored.

Locations

AMC is currently headquartered at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, and has operations in approximately 149 locations worldwide including more than 49 American states and 50 countries. AMC employs upwards of 70,000 military and civilian employees. From 1973 to 2003, AMC was headquartered in a building at 5001 Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria, Virginia, and prior to 1973, it was headquartered at what is now Reagan National Airport. AMC was located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia between 2003 and 2005 before being relocated to Alabama by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

Commanders

Major subordinate commands

* United States Army Contracting Command
* United States Army Sustainment Command
* United States Army Aviation and Missile Command
* United States Army Communications-Electronics Command,Alexandria Soller, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) (February 26, 2019) Staying ahead of modernization requirements, ensuring readiness
/ref>
* United States Army Chemical Materials Activity
* Joint Munitions CommandTony Lopez (AMC) (September 21, 2018) JMC Commander promoted to Brigadier General
/ref>
* United States Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command
* United States Army Security Assistance Command
* United States Army Medical Logistics Command
* United States Army Financial Management Command, formerly a direct reporting unit of the Department of the Army, is now subordinate to AMC, effective 1 Oct. 2019
* United States Army Installation Management CommandArmy News Service (11 Feb 2019) Installation Management Command to realign under Army Materiel Command
/ref>
* Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command
*See also: United States Army Medical Materiel Agency (a Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC))

Formerly subordinate commands

* Combat Capabilities Development Command or CCDC (formerly United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command) completed its transfer to United States Army Futures Command on 3 February 2019, which operates research and development engineering centers; Army Research Laboratories supports the centers' activities.
* U.S. Army Industrial Operations Command, included Anniston Munitions Center

Other commands

*Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives

See also

Comparable organizations
U.S. Armed Forces systems commands
* Marine Corps Systems Command
* United States Navy systems commands
** Naval Sea Systems Command
** Naval Air Systems Command
** Naval Information Warfare Systems Command
** Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command
** Naval Supply Systems Command
* Air Force Materiel Command
* Space Systems Command

Notes

*

References

*
*

External links

*
*

{{authority control

1962 establishments in Virginia
Military units and formations established in 1962