Air Force Missile Development Center

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.

Origins

 * see also: 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group

The origins of the Air Force Missile Development Center can be traced to October 1944 when the Special Weapons Field Test Unit was established at Wendover Army Air Base, Utah. The unit was a detachment of the Special Weapons Branch, Wright Field, Ohio, with a mission to evaluate captured and experimental rocket systems. The missiles were of three types: the first included power-driven bombs such as the German V-1 "buzz bomb;" the second were glide bombs equipped with wings and gyro-stabilizers, which could be controlled by radio or other means. The third consisted of conventional bombs which could be controlled by the launching aircraft. Numerous tests were conducted, including the Republic‐Ford JB‐2, a copy of the German V-1. Wendover was transferred to Strategic Air Command (SAC) in March 1947 and the unit at Wendover was inactivated.

Holloman AFB


Established at Alamogordo Army Air Field, 16 March 1947, absorbing the personnel and equipment of the Special Weapons Field Test Unit that was moved from Wendover. 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. The Aeromedical Field Laboratory (AMFL) was founded at Holloman in 1951 as a support facility for the Aero Medical Laboratory at Wright Field (today the 711th 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. Tests prepared or performed at AMFL included Project Manhigh (cosmic ray effects), Project Excelsior (high-altitude parachutes), and a number of unnamed rocket sled tests (escape from high-performance aircraft). Tests were performed on both animal and human subjects, and AMFL maintained a collection of animals at Holloman. Many 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. Stapp volunteered as the first human test subject in all of the rocket sled tests. On December 10, 1954, he rode the Sonic Wind No. 1 rocket sled at Holloman in a run that decelerated from 632 mph 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 6800 lb for that brief time.

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 102800 ft 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".

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. 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. Enos, the first chimpanzee to orbit the earth, was also trained at Holloman's Aero-Medical laboratory. 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.

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) at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, designated as the headquarters for the Test Group.

Lineage

 * Organized as the 4145th Army Air Forces Base Unit on 16 March 1947
 * Redesignated 4145th Air Force Base Unit on 27 September 1947
 * Redesignated 2754th Air Force Base on 15 August 1948
 * Redesignated 2754th Experimental Wing on 20 September 1949
 * Redesignated 6540th Missile Test Wing on 30 June 1951
 * Redesignated 6580th Missile Test Wing on 1 September 1952
 * Redesignated Holloman Air Development Test Center on 10 October 1952
 * Redesignated Holloman Air Development Center unknown
 * Redesignated Air Force Missile Development Center on 1 September 1957
 * Inactivated on 1 August 1970

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

Components

 * 2d Guided Missiles Squadron, 25 October-30 December 1950
 * 6571st Aeromedical Research Laboratory, 1 December 1961-1 August 1970

Stations

 * Alamogordo Army Air Field, 16 March 1947
 * Holloman Air Force Base, 13 January 1948-1 August 1970