REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Retired Army Lt. Gen. Robert D. Hammond passed away on May 9 at his home in Monterey, Calif. Hammond was the commander of the Army Strategic Defense Command, a predecessor of the current Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Hammond, 80, retired from the Army in June 1992.
Hammond was commander of USASDC from July 11, 1988 to June 30, 1992, and served as the Program Executive Office for Strategic Defense Systems. USASDC was the Army component of the Strategic Defense Initiative, responsible for seven of the eleven SDI programs. Divided between Arlington, Va., and Huntsville, Ala., the command employed more than 1,400 Soldiers and civilians and was responsible for an annual budget of more than $2 billion.
Hammond, a native of Altadena, Calif., began his Army service in 1956 and was a veteran of the Vietnam War. Among other assignments, he was commanding general of the VII Corps artillery, then based in Augsburg, West Germany, and chief of the Studies, Analysis and Gaming Agency for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He retired from the Army and moved to Carmel, Calif., from Annandale, Va., in 1995.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years Patty, their four children - Bob, Scott, John and Susan, and five grandchildren. The funeral service will be held at the U.S. Military Academy's Most Holy Trinity Chapel at 10 a.m. on June 9.
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