U.S. Army Redstone Test Center
| Redstone Test Center | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | Oct 1, 2010 – present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Garrison/HQ | HQ - Redstone Arsenal, AL |
| Motto(s) | Truth |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Steven Braddom |
U.S. Army Redstone Test Center, or RTC, is subordinate organization to the United States Army Test and Evaluation Command,[1] a direct reporting unit of the United States Army responsible for developmental testing, independent evaluations, assessments, and experiments of Army aviation, missiles and sensor equipment.
RTC is a tenant organization in Redstone Arsenal, AL.[2]
History
[edit]The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure directed that the Aviation Technical Test Center in Fort Rucker move to Redstone Arsenal and combine with the Redstone Technical Test Center. [3] [4] [5] RTC was stood up in October 2010.
Operations
[edit]RTC's largest customers are Program Executive Office Aviation, and Program Executive Office Missiles and Space along with Program Manager Aircraft Survivability Equipment and the Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center.[6] In addition to supporting Army acquisition efforts, RTC conducts testing with all branches of the military and maintains an extended customer base that includes the department of homeland security, allied foreign countries, industry, and NASA.[7] RTC employs approximately 1,100 military, civilian and contract employees that are skilled test officers, flight test engineers, engineers, scientists, technicians, researchers and experimental test pilots. RTC is a highly reimbursable organization, meaning that the majority of its operating budget comes from direct charges to its customers.
See also
[edit]- Redstone Arsenal
- United States Army Test and Evaluation Command
- United States Army
- List of aerospace flight test centres
References
[edit]- ^ "ATEC Official Website".
- ^ "Team Redstone". Archived from the original on 28 July 2008.
- ^ Hawkins, Kari (22 July 2009). "Changing the Course of Flight Testing at Redstone".
- ^ "BRAC Building Boom".
- ^ Kessner, Kenneth (27 March 2011). "Opening of helicopter flight test center at Redstone Arsenal part of BRAC's impact on area".
- ^ Gore, Leada (22 August 2014). "See something unusual up in the sky? It's not a UFO, it's just some Redstone testing".
- ^ McMahan, Tracy (4 April 2014). "NASA and Redstone Test Center Collaborate on Solid Rocket Motor Firing".
External links
[edit]- ATEC Official Website
- Redstone Test Center
- ATEC History http://www.atec.army.mil/history.html
- ATEC Organization http://www.atec.army.mil/organization.html
- RTC http://www.rtc.army.mil/
- RTC History http://www.rtc.army.mil/rttc.html
- Federal Labs Listing http://www.federallabs.org/labs/profile/?id=1332
- Command Change http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/08/col_patrick_mason_takes_comman.html, Megan Davidson, nasa.gov, 4 April 2014