AMC commander tours Aberdeen Proving Ground

By Mr. David McNally (RDECOM)September 9, 2011

AMC commander tours Aberdeen Proving Ground
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. -- The Army's senior logistician toured here Sept. 16 meeting with military officials, speaking with Soldiers and civilian employees and viewing the transformation on the installation.

The Army is investing more than $1.4 billion in Aberdeen Proving Ground infrastructure to modernize the installation and prepare it for its new mission as the center for Army science and technology.

General Ann E. Dunwoody, Army Materiel Command commanding general, saw first-hand the state of the installation with a fly-over and a windshield tour.

During the helicopter flight, Dunwoody saw the 144 miles of coastline APG has on the Chesapeake Bay. Officials also gave her a strategic bus tour of buildings both new and old.

"While Aberdeen has been a center of innovation for about 93 years, it is now one of the new centers of gravity for Army Materiel Command and for our Army," Dunwoody said in remarks to Soldiers and employees early in the day. "I could not be more proud of you for what you've done and what you've accomplished."

The installation is changing as the Army realigns missions and organizations in accordance with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Law, known as BRAC. More than 5,000 civilian jobs are coming to APG by 2011.

"We are already at the tipping point," said Maj. Gen. Nick Justice, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command and APG commanding general. "There is a tremendous synergy going on and the opportunities are exciting."

At end-state, the APG workforce will number nearly 22,000 people. As the installation faces the challenges of transformation, new buildings are going up, hundreds more are under renovation and older facilities, now past their life cycle, are being demolished.

"My hope is that General Dunwoody will see the totality of the Army mission here," Justice said. "She is the major commander in the Army responsible for this installation and most of its mission. She is in a supporting role of the other part of the mission as the materiel commander."

The Army Materiel Command has major subordinate commands across the nation. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC provides it, according to the command's motto. The command is key to supporting and sustaining the future force and current force, officials said.

Dunwoody visited with leaders from the Installation Management Command, the Research, Development and Engineering Command, the Communication-Electronics Command, the Chemical Materials Agency, and the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives element.

During a ceremony hosted by Justice, Dunwoody spoke to more than 2,000 Soldiers and civilians gathered at Fanshaw Field.

"You can't be Army Strong unless you're smart, innovative and laser-focused, and that's what this incredible workforce does," Dunwoody told APG workers. "You are a national treasure."

Related Links:

Army Materiel Command

Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody Biography

Army honors research, development command at APG ceremony

Aberdeen Proving Ground