Huntsville origins of ballistic missile defense

During 1943, the U.S. Army learned the extent of missile weapon developments in Germany, and in September the Rocket Branch was formed in the Technical Division of the Army’s Ordnance Department. Although small rockets had been used many years by America’s military, they in no way competed with artillery weapons. Formation of the Rocket Branch gave recognition to the importance of this technology in augmenting or even extending the existing capabilities of weaponry.

Although some missile analysis was done by the initial staff of the Rocket Branch, awareness of German developments spurred the Ordnance Department to enlarge this activity and seek outside assistance. An operation called the Ordnance Research and Development Division Sub-office (Rocket) was set up at Fort Bliss, just north of El Paso, Texas. Contracts were awarded to the California Institute of Technology (CIT) and the General Electric Company (GE) for initiating missile research and development for the U.S. Army. Rocket testing was conducted at White Sands Proving Ground (WSPG), just across the border in New Mexico. Missiles under development included the CORPORAL and the SERGEANT. GE’s contracts were under Hermes Project C; this included the initial design of a missile designated MAJOR.

After May 1945 and the close of the war in Europe, the U.S. and the USSR were in great competition to gain the benefits of Germany’s weapon developments. As a part of this, about 1,500 key German and other Axis scientists, engineers, and technicians were brought to the United States through Project Paperclip to work under one-year contracts. Colonel Holger N. Toftoy, then head of the Ordnance Department’s Rocket Branch, arranged for 125 specialists who had developed rockets at Peenemüde to be included.

In January 1946, the German team led by Wernher von Braun began arriving at Fort Bliss, where they became contract employees of the Rocket Sub- office. This was a military activity; thus, there was a resident detachment of Army personnel led by Major James P. Hamill to whom von Braun and the German team reported. At this same time, 341 railway cars were received at WSPG; these were filled with missile assemblies (but no full missiles), components, parts, instruments, and many thousands of documents, mainly collected at the Mittelwerk factory just before it was occupied by the Soviets.

By early 1948, activities at Fort Bliss had progressed to a point where the Chief of Ordnance decided to establish a permanent rocket research and development center at a better location. During the summer of 1948, a survey was made of available Ordnance installations, and in early December, the Chief of Ordnance announced that Redstone Arsenal had been selected. During WWII, Redstone, together with Huntsville Arsenal, had become the largest producer of chemical weapons in the world, but both were eventually shut down after the war.

On 1 June 1949, Redstone Arsenal was officially reactivated, and the Chief of Ordnance designated this as the Ordnance Rocket Center. Its mission included research and development of guided rockets and related items; maintenance of portions of the old chemical ammunition loading plant in standby condition; and operation of facilities for storage of ammunition items. Missile testing would continue to WSPG, later designated White Sands Missile Range (WSMR).

In the previous November, Colonel Carroll D. Hudson had been reassigned to his second tour as Redstone Arsenal commander and guided the installation through a facility construction program. At the beginning of 1949, Redstone Arsenal had only 245 civilian and 10 military personnel. During the year, an organization staff of administrative and procurement personnel was hired; physicists, chemists, mathematicians, and engineers in a variety of disciplines were added to form the technical staff of what was called the Rocket Research and Development Center (RRDC). By the end of 1949, Redstone Arsenal had near 700 civilian employees and some 340 military personnel. The administrative and technical activities were concentrated in facilities at the southeastern portion of the site.

On 30 June 1949, the Chemical Corps deactivated Huntsville Arsenal and it was put up for sale, but the new operations of Redstone Arsenal needed the land and facilities. On 1 April 1950, the consolidation of the two arsenals was made official; at this time, the Redstone reservation was expanded to include an approximate 10-by 12-mile area comprising about 40,300 acres. In June, the U.S. Army was reorganized, with the Ordnance Department becoming the Ordnance Corps.

The Ordnance Guided Missile Center (OGMC), a unit of Redstone Arsenal, was officially activated on 15 April 1950. All guided missile activities at Fort Bliss would be transferred to that Center by November, at which time the Missile Sub-office at Fort Bliss would close. The primary mission of OGMC was to serve as the Ordnance center for guided missiles, including component and systems development in the fields of aerodynamics, guidance and control, propulsion, assembly techniques, transport, test, and launching. GE personnel working there on the Hermes C programs also transferred to Huntsville, but the Hermes-C contract was cancelled in September; at that time, responsibility for continued work on the MAJOR missile was assigned to OGMC.

In addition to OGMC, Redstone Arsenal had staffs for contracting and procurement, field service, and special research and development. In May 1950, the Chief of Ordnance assigned Redstone Arsenal responsibility for the preliminary design study of the special-purpose, large-caliber field artillery rocket later named the HONEST JOHN.

By the end of 1950, the OGMC had about 700 civil service, military, and contractor personnel; this included 130 foreign-born contract employees (many of the original 125 had returned to Germany, but others had been added). The majority of the technical personnel were organized on a functional basis; very few were permanently assigned on any specific project.

OGMC mainly occupied facilities near the center of the original Huntsville Arsenal, and a major construction activity was begun to provide more appropriate research and development facilities. MAJ James P. Hamill, who was among the military transferred from Fort Bliss, served as acting OGMC Commander and von Braun was the Technical Director.