The Air Force Missile Development Center is an inactivated United States Air Force unit. It was last active with Air Force Systems Command, based at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. It was inactivated on 1 August 1970.
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[edit]History
Established at Alamogordo Army Air Field, 16 March 1947, absorbing personnel and equipment moved from the Westover Army Airfield, Utah pilotless aircraft, guided missiles, and other research testing and development program. Although movement of the missile program began on this date, it continued until September 1947. Movement of the program from Wendover resulted in the transfer for 1,200 personnel.
For the next 25 years the site, which became known as the Holloman Air Development Center, and later the Air Force Missile Development Center, launched many missiles including the JB-2 Loon, Tiny Tim (the first Army rocket), GAM-63 RASCAL, captured German V-2 missiles, XQ-2 Drone, AIM-4 Falcon, MGM-13 Mace, MGM-1 Matador and AGM-45 Shrike.
Resulting from a major reorganization, the 2754th Experimental Wing was activated on September 20, 1949 at Holloman AFB overseeing all research and development projects. Again re-designated as the Holloman Air Development Center in 1952, Holloman Air Force Base wrote its name into the annals of American history in the 1950s and 1960s.
Holloman was the site of a number of tests designed to improve safety of Air Force flights and of upcoming manned space flights.[1]:Foreword The Aeromedical Field Laboratory (AMFL) was founded at Holloman in 1951 as a support facility for the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright Field[1]:91 (today the711th Human Performance Wing within the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base). The scientific work at AMFL focused on the effects of cosmic radiation, fractional gravity, and mechanical forces on living tissues.[1]:45 Tests prepared or performed at AMFL included Project Manhigh (cosmic ray effects),[1]:18–19 Project Excelsior (high-altitude parachutes),[2]:47 and a number of unnamed rocket sled tests (escape from high-performance aircraft).[1]:47–48 Tests were performed on both animal and human subjects, and AMFL maintained a collection of animals at Holloman.[1]:96–97Many of the tests were performed under the direction of John Paul Stapp, who moved from Wright Field to Holloman in April 1953 to become the head of the laboratory.[1]:91
Stapp volunteered as the first human test subject in all of the rocket sled tests.[3]:109 On December 10, 1954, he rode the Sonic Wind No. 1 rocket sled at Holloman in a run that decelerated from 632 miles per hour (1,017 km/h) to a complete stop in one and one-quarter seconds. His body experienced over 40 times the force of gravity, in essence making him weigh 6,800 pounds (3,100 kg) for that brief time.[3]:101, 111–112
In the third flight of Project Excelsior, launched from Holloman on August 16, 1960, Joseph Kittinger stepped from the balloon gondola at an altitude of 102,800 feet (31,300 m) and set several records, including one for longest parachute free-fall. The gondola carried a sign reading, "This is the highest step in the world".[4][5]
Ham, the first chimpanzee in space, was trained at Holloman; his name is an acronym for Holloman Aero Medical. His flight occurred on January 31, 1961.[6] After Ham died in 1983 at age 27, his body was necropsied and the skeleton removed. The remaining soft parts of his body were buried in front of the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo.[3]:258 Enos, the first chimpanzee to orbit the earth, was also trained at Holloman's Aero-Medical laboratory.[3]:262 His flight occurred on November 29, 1961 and was the first US specimen launched into orbit. ENOS was launched in a Mercury-Atlas capsule that completed two orbits around the earth and was safely recovered three hours, 21 minutes later.[6]
[edit]Closure
On August 1, 1970, per Air Force Systems Command Special Order G-94, the AFMDC was inactivated and the Tactical Air Command assumed host responsibilities for Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. Associate units and programs transferred to other locations within Air Force Systems Command. The inactivation resulted in the loss of more than 450 military and 570 civilian positions.
The Test & Evaluation activities that remained were the Central Inertial Guidance Test Facility (CIGTF), the High Speed Test Track, the Radar Target Scatter Facility (RATSCAT), and the Target Drone Facility. These organizations were combined to form the nucleus of a Holloman AFB tenant organization, the 6585th Test Group, with the Air Force Special Weapons Center (AFSWC) atKirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, designated as the headquarters for the Test Group.
[edit]Lineage
- Established as: 4145th Army Air Forces Base Unit, 16 March 1947
- Redesignated on: 2754th Air Force Base Unit, 27 September 1947
- Inactivated on: 20 September 1949
- Established as: 2754th Experimental Wing, 20 September 1949
- Redesignated on: 6540th Missile Test Wing, 30 June 1951
- Redesignated on: 6580th Missile Test Wing, 1 September 1952
- Redesignated on: Holloman Air Development Center, 10 October 1952
- Redesignated on: Air Force Missile Development Center, 1 September 1957
- Inactivated on: 1 August 1970
[edit]Assignments
- Air Proving Ground Command, 16 March 1947
- Air Materiel Command, 20 January 1948
- Air Proving Ground, 1 June 1948
- Air Proving Ground Command on 29 December 1951
- Air Research and Development Command, 1 December 1957
- Air Force Systems Command, 1 April 1961-1 August 1970
[edit]Components
- 2d Guided Missiles Squadron, 25 October-30 December 1950
- 6571st Aeromedical Research Laboratory, 1 December 1961-1 August 1970
[edit]Stations
- Alamogordo Army Air Field, 16 March 1947
- Holloman Air Force Base, 13 January 1948-1 August 1970
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