United States Army Materiel Command

U.S. Army Materiel Command
File:AMC shoulder insignia.svg AMC shoulder sleeve insignia
Active	1962–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Role	Develops, maintains, and supports materiel capabilities for the Army
Size	More than 60,000 military and civilians
Garrison/HQ	Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
Mottos	If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, communicates with it, or eats it – AMC provides it.
March	Arsenal for the Brave
Website	AMC website army.mil Profile
Commanders
Current commander	LTG Christopher Mohan
Deputy Commanding General	LTG Gavin A. Lawrence
Command Sergeant Major	CSM Jacinto Garza
Notable commanders	Frank S. Besson, Jr. Ferdinand J. Chesarek
Insignia
Distinctive unit insignia	File:US Army Materiel Command DUI.png

The United States Army Materiel Command (AMC) is the primary provider of materiel to the United States Army.

AMC operates 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 conventional ammunition and the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile.

AMC is responsible for the business of selling United States Army equipment and services to allies of the United States and negotiates and implements agreements for co-production of U.S. weapons systems by other states.

History

AMC 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. Prior to its creation, Lt. Gen. Frank S. Besson, Jr. directed a Department of the Army study to be conducted, of which recommended the creation of a "materiel development and logistics command". He would serve as the AMC's first commander.

As part of the formation of AMC, various field activities and installations were transferred into it. Most of those field activities and installations came from six of the technical services, including: the Chief Chemical Officer, Chief of Engineers, Chief of Ordnance (the single largest source of AMC installations), the Quartermaster General, Chief Signal Officer, and the Chief of Transportation. The seventh technical service, the Surgeon General, provided one medical depot. Several other installations and activities came from Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA) Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, the Continental Army Command (CONARC), and the Chief of Research and Development.

Since its creation in 1962, AMC underwent constant reorganizations in its headquarters and field commands. These conditions reflected a more fundamental problem, chronic dissatisfaction with the Army’s entire system for developing and fielding new weapons and equipment. A special Army Materiel Acquisition Review Committee, on 1 April 1974 recommended sweeping organizational and management reforms.

File:DARCOM emblem.jpg

Materiel Development and Readiness Command emblem, 1976–84

On 23 January 1976, AMC was renamed to U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command (DARCOM). DARCOM commander Gen. John R. Deane Jr. best summed up the renaming's purpose, which was "to emphasize that readiness is a part of our business."

Both "materiel development" and "materiel readiness" represented two major organizational elements within the command. The former, materiel development, was responsible for research and development, producer tests and evaluation, and initial procurement of weapons and equipment. The latter, materiel readiness, was responsible for buying, fielding, and maintaining those systems.

As part of this reorganization, commands managed by AMC were broken into individual commands for research and development, and for readiness. Accordingly, during fiscal year 1976 the Tank-Automotive Command (TACOM) became the Tank-Automotive Research and Development Command and the Tank-Automotive Materiel Readiness Command. The Missile and the Armaments Commands were similarly divided.

Effective 1 August 1984, DARCOM was renamed back to AMC. The reason for the change was to "remove a perceived boundary between development and logistics support implied in the DARCOM name". Additionally, it was said that the conciseness and clarity of the name AMC "[would] be better understood by allies and the general public."

In December 2024, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, "in a dramatic and rare move," dismissed General Charles R. Hamilton, the AMC commanding general, following an Army investigation that concluded he had improperly intervened to arrange a battalion command position for a female lieutenant colonel he favored.

Locations

AMC is currently headquartered at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, and has operations in approximately 149 locations worldwide including more than 49 American states and 50 countries.

AMC employs upwards of 70,000 military and civilian employees.

From 1973 to 2003, AMC was headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, and prior to 1973, it was headquartered at what is now Reagan National Airport. AMC was located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, between 2003 and 2005 before being relocated to Alabama by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

List of commanding generals

File:2023 U.S. Army Materiel Command Change of Command (52752335398).jpg

Gen. Charles R. Hamilton assumes command of AMC from Gen. Edward M. Daly on 16 March 2023.

No.	Commanding General		Term
	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Term length
As U.S. Army Materiel Command
1	Frank S. Besson Jr.	General Frank S. Besson Jr.	2 April 1962	10 March 1969	6 years, 342 days
2	Ferdinand J. Chesarek	General Ferdinand J. Chesarek	10 March 1969	1 November 1970	1 year, 236 days
3	Henry A. Miley Jr.	General Henry A. Miley Jr.	1 November 1970	12 February 1975	4 years, 103 days
As U.S. Army Materiel Development and Readiness Command
4	John R. Deane Jr.	General John R. Deane Jr.	12 February 1975	1 February 1977	1 year, 355 days
5	George Sammet Jr.[11]	Lieutenant General George Sammet Jr.	1 February 1977	1 May 1977	89 days
6	John R. Guthrie	General John R. Guthrie	1 May 1977	1 August 1981	4 years, 92 days
7	Donald R. Keith	General Donald R. Keith	1 August 1981	29 June 1984	2 years, 333 days
As U.S. Army Materiel Command
8	Richard H. Thompson	General Richard H. Thompson	29 June 1984	13 April 1987	2 years, 288 days
9	Louis C. Wagner Jr.	General Louis C. Wagner Jr.	13 April 1987	27 September 1989	2 years, 167 days
10	William G.T. Tuttle Jr.	General William G.T. Tuttle Jr.	27 September 1989	31 January 1992	2 years, 126 days
11	Jimmy D. Ross	General Jimmy D. Ross	31 January 1992	11 February 1994	2 years, 11 days
12	Leon E. Salomon	General Leon E. Salomon	11 February 1994	27 March 1996	2 years, 45 days
13	Johnnie E. Wilson	General Johnnie E. Wilson	27 March 1996	14 May 1999	3 years, 48 days
14	John G. Coburn	General John G. Coburn	14 May 1999	30 October 2001	2 years, 169 days
15	Paul J. Kern	General Paul J. Kern	30 October 2001	5 November 2004	3 years, 6 days
16	Benjamin S. Griffin	General Benjamin S. Griffin	5 November 2004	14 November 2008	4 years, 9 days
17	Ann E. Dunwoody	General Ann E. Dunwoody	14 November 2008	28 June 2012	3 years, 227 days
18	Dennis L. Via	General Dennis L. Via	28 June 2012	30 September 2016	4 years, 94 days
19	Gustave F. Perna	General Gustave F. Perna	30 September 2016	2 July 2020	3 years, 276 days
20	Edward M. Daly	General Edward M. Daly	2 July 2020	16 March 2023	2 years, 257 days
21	Charles R. Hamilton	General Charles R. Hamilton	16 March 2023	22 March 2024	1 year, 6 days
-	Christopher Mohan	Lieutenant General Christopher Mohan Acting	22 March 2024	20 November 2025	1 year, 243 days
22	Christopher Mohan	Lieutenant General Christopher Mohan	20 November 2025	Incumbent	203 days

Organization

The Army Materiel Command oversees 10 major subordinate commands (MSC) and two separate reporting activities (SRA).

Current

Major subordinate commands

• File:US Army 50953 AMCOM Logo.jpg U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command
• File:Army Communications-Electronics Command DUI.png U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command
• File:ACC Logo.jpg U.S. Army Contracting Command
• File:US Army Financial Management Command DUI.png U.S. Army Financial Management Command, a former direct reporting unit to the Department of the Army, made subordinate to AMC, effective 1 Oct. 2019.
• File:United States Army Installation Management Command Shoulder Patch.png U.S. Army Installation Management Command
• File:JMClogo.JPG U.S. Army Joint Munitions Command
• File:Usasaclogo.gif U.S. Army Security Assistance Command
• File:US Army Sustainment Command DUI.png U.S. Army Sustainment Command
• File:TACOM DUI.gif U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command
• File:Surface Deployment and Distribution Command SSI.svg U.S. Army Transportation Command
• See also: U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency (a Life Cycle Management Command – LCMC, but subordinate to MRDC)

Separate reporting activities

• File:USAChemMaterialAgncyDUI.jpg U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity, activated as the Chemical Materials Agency in 2002 (an AMC major subordinate command), was redesignated to "Activity" and became an AMC separate reporting activity in 2012.
• U.S. Army Logistics Data Analysis Center

Former units

Major subordinate commands

• File:Industrial Operations Command DUI (from TIOH).gif U.S. Army Industrial Operations Command, former structure of Joint Munitions Command, from 1995 to 2000.
• File:RDECOM emblem (14 October 2004) rdecom.army.mil logo.png U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, as designated from 2002 to 2019.
  • File:US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command DUI.png U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command – RDECOM redesignation upon transfer to Army Futures Command, effective 3 Feb. 2019.
• File:US Army Medical Logistics Command DUI.png U.S. Army Medical Logistics Command, activated in 2019 as an AMC major subordinate command, and in 2020, transferred under the Communications-Electronics Command.

Separate reporting activities

• File:PEO ACWA logo 788x675px.png U.S. Army Element, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives, an Army "element", assigned to AMC but reporting to the DoD, was designated a program executive office (PEO) and assigned to USAASC in 2012.

See also

Comparable organizations – Other U.S. Armed Forces systems commands

• Marine Corps Systems Command
• United States Navy systems commands
  • Naval Sea Systems Command
  • Naval Air Systems Command
  • Naval Information Warfare Systems Command
  • Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command
  • Naval Supply Systems Command
• Air Force Materiel Command
• Space Systems Command

References

• Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army
• Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Army

External links

• Official website
• Error creating thumbnail: File missing Media related to at Wikimedia Commons