 Ordnance CorpsFormerly: 1832–1950: Ordnance Department |
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|---|---|
 Ordnance Corps branch insignia |
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| Active | |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Combat service support[1] |
| Garrison/HQ | HQ: Fort Lee, Virginia |
| Motto | Armament for Peace[citation needed] |
| Colors | Crimson piped with yellow[2] |
| Commanders | |
| Brigadier General | Lynn A. Collyar[3] |
| Insignia | |
| Crest | |
The United States Army Ordnance Corps is a combat service support branch of the United States Army, headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia. The mission of the Ordnance Corps is to "support the development, production, acquisition and sustainment of weapons systems and munitions, and to provide explosive ordnance disposal, during peace and war, to provide superior combat power to current and future forces of the United States Army."[1]
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History
Prior to forming the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed a committee on May 27 to study methods of ammunition procurement and storage and to appoint a “Commissary-General” of the Artillery Stores. Ezekiel Cheever was the appointee and performed what would become the duties of Chief of Ordnance. In 1776 the Board of War and Ordnance was created for issuing supplies to troops in the field, and the first Ordnance magazine was established at Carlisle, Pennsylvania the following year. An armory and arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts (1777–1968) was also established,[2], along with later armories such as Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (1799–1861), and Watertown, Massachusetts (1816–1968).
Part of the War Department since 1789, Congress created the separate Ordnance Department on May 14, 1812, as part of the War of 1812 preparations with responsibility for arms and ammunition production, acquisition, distribution and storage. In 1821 the Ordnance Department merged with the Artillery[clarification needed] in 1821, but was reconstituted as the stand-alone Ordnance Department in 1832 with the new responsibilities of research and development and a system of field service (logistics). During the American Civil War, the Ordnance Department procured and provided massive amounts of weapons and supplies, and the establishment of Sandy Hook Proving Ground, New Jersey, in 1874 gave the Army its first full-scale testing facility. The Spanish-American War was the first conflict in which the department deployed materials overseas and provided close combat support.[2]
During World War I, the Corps[clarification needed] mobilized the United States industrial base, jointly developed weapons with European allies, and established overseas supply depots and Ordnance training facilities. In 1919, testing was moved from Sandy Hook Proving Ground to the Aberdeen Proving Ground. World War II expanded the Corps to include production, acquisition, distribution, and training missions.[2] In early August 1945, the chief of the Rocket Branch (Colonel Holger N. Toftoy) in the Ordnance Corps Research and Development Division offered Operation Paperclip contracts to German rocket scientists (127 accepted).[3] Ordnance put the first high-speed electronic automatic computer (ENIAC) into operation in 1947.[4] In 1949, the Ft Bliss/WSPG Ordnance Rocket Center was transferred to Redstone Arsenal.
Chiefs of Ordnance
Chiefs of the US Army Ordnance Corps have been:[4][5]
- Ezekiel Cheever 1776 1
- Colonel Decius Wadsworth, 1815–1821 2
- Colonel George Bomford, 1832–1848
- Colonel George Talcott, 1848–1851
- Colonel Henry K. Craig, 1851–1861
- Brigadier General James W. Ripley, 1861–1863
- Brigadier General George D. Ramsay, 1863–1864
- Brigadier General Alexander B. Dyer, 1864–1874
- Brigadier General Stephen V. Benet, 1874–1891
- Brigadier General Daniel W. Flagler, 1891–1899
- Brigadier General Adelbert R. Buffington, 1899–1901
- Major General William Crozier, 1901–1918
- Major General Clarence C. Williams, 1918–1930
- Major General Samuel Hof, 1930–1934
- Major General William H. Tschappat, 1934–1938
- Major General Charles M. Wesson, 1938–1942
- Lieutenant General Levin H. Campbell, Jr., 1942–1946
- Major General Everett S. Hughes, 1946–1949
- Major General Elbert L. Ford, 1949–1953
- Lieutenant General Emerson L. Cummings, 1953–1958
- Lieutenant General John H. Hinrichs, 1958–1962
- Major General Horace F. Bigelow, 1962 3
- Major General William E. Potts, 1983–1986
- Major General Leon E. Salomon, 1986–1988
- Major General James W. Ball, 1988–1990
- Major General Johnnie E. Wilson, 1990–1992
- Major General John G. Coburn, 1992–1994
- Major General James W. Monroe, 1994–1995
- Major General Robert D. Shadley, 1995–1997
- Brigadier General Thomas R. Dickinson, 1997–1998
- Major General Dennis K. Jackson, 1998–2000
- Major General Mitchell Stevenson, 2000–2003
- Brigadier General William M. Lenaers, 2003–2004
- Major General Vincent E. Boles, 2004–2006
- Brigadier General Rebecca S. Halstead, 2006–2008
- Brigadier General Lynn A. Collyar, 2008–Present
Notes
- Note 1: Was not officially a Chief of Ordnance as the department did not yet exist.
- Note 2: The Ordnance Department and Artillery Department were merged from 1821 to 1832 in the interest of economy. The Ordnance Department would be re-established in 1832.
- Note 3: The Office of the Chief of Ordnance was abolished and all ordnance-related administrative functions were performed by other Army agencies in 1962. The position was re-established in 1983, as a proponent agency for all ordnance-related occupational specialties and career management fields. The Ordnance Corps would join the regimental system of the U.S. Army in 1986, with the Office of the Chief of Ordnance being re-established as the head of the Corps.
References
- ^ "Mission" (html). U.S. Army Ordnance Corps on-line. United States Army. http://www.goordnance.apg.army.mil/sitefiles/OrdnanceMission.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-25.
- ^ a b c "History of the Ordnance Corps" (html). U.S. Army Ordnance Corps on-line. United States Army. http://www.goordnance.apg.army.mil/sitefiles/OrdnanceBriefHistory.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
- ^ Huzel, Dieter K (1960). Peenemünde to Canaveral. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall. pp. 27, 226.
- ^ Serving the Line with Excellence: The Development of the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps as expressed through the Lives of its Chiefs of Ordnance, 1812–1992; With a Short Sketch of the History of U.S. Army Ordnance, 1775–1992, (rev.ed., 1992)
- ^ Addere Flammam: Commanders of the United States Army Ordnance Center and School, 1918–1993, (1993)
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