The U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) is the primary provider of materiel to the United States Army. The Command's mission includes the research & development of weapons systems as well as maintenance and parts distribution. It was established on 8 May 1962 and was activated on 1 August of that year as a major field command of the U.S. Army. Lieutenant General Frank S. Besson, Jr., who directed the implementation of the Department of Army study that recommended creation of a "materiel development and logistics command", served as its first commander.
AMC operates research and development engineering centers; Army Research Laboratories; 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 within the United States Department of Defense for the business of selling Army equipment and services to allies of the United States and negotiates and implements agreements for co-production of U.S. weapons systems by foreign nations.
AMC is currently headquartered at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, and is located in approximately 149 locations worldwide, including more than 49 American States and 50 countries. AMC maintains employment of upwards of 70,000 military and civilian employees.
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision relocated AMC to Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. Personnel began relocating to Redstone in 2006 and the command was completely relocated by summer 2011, effecting one in every six AMC employees across the command, or approximately 11,000 people in 25 states. AMC was previously headquartered on Ft. Belvoir, VA, for approximately fifty years.
