The Combat Capabilities Development Command, (CCDC) (formerly the United States Army Research,
Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM)) is a subordinate command of the U.S. Army
Futures Command.
RDECOM was tasked with "creating, integrating, and delivering technology-enabled solutions"
to the U.S. Army.
Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, RDECOM employed more than 13,000
scientists, engineers, researchers, and support personnel working at six major RDE centers
and at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, providing nearly all of the Army's basic and
applied research and development services, including in collaboration with other branches
of the armed forces and through a network of more than a thousand academic, industrial,
and international partners.
Speed of delivery and integration with the weapon systems are now needed for CCDC operations.
CCDC now includes the Data and Analysis Center (formerly AMSAA), and must now align with
the top six priorities of Futures Command:
Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) Next Generation Combat Vehicles (NGCV)
Future Vertical Lift (FVL) Army Network
Air & Missile Defense Soldier Lethalityas well as Multi-Domain Operations
(MDO).
== Role and organization == CCDC formerly described its role as "the Army's
enabling command in the development and delivery of capabilities that empower, unburden and
protect the Warfighter."
It conducts and sponsors scientific research in areas important to the Army, develops scientific
discoveries into new technologies, engineers technologies into new equipment and capabilities,
and works with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command to help requirements writers
define the future needs of the Army.CCDC is headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
As of July 2019, Major-General Cedric T. Wins is the commanding general, assisted by Brigadier-General
Vincent F. Malone as deputy commanding general and Command Sergeant-Major Jon R. Stanley
as command sergeant major.
They oversee one laboratory and six major centers:
Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC
or simply Edgewood) Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering
Center (NSRDEC or simply Natick) Tank Automotive Research, Development and
Engineering Center (TARDEC) Aviation & Missile Research, Development and
Engineering Center (AMRDEC) Armaments Research, Development and Engineering
Center (ARDEC) Communications-Electronics Research, Development
and Engineering Center (CERDEC).
== History == After assuming command of the Army Materiel
Command in October 2001, General Paul J. Kern saw the need to streamline how the Army developed
technology.
At the time, the Army's laboratories and research centers reported through multiple channels,
among other problems.
Kern argued that the Army had to "figure out how to get technology in the hands of the
Warfighters quicker" and that it was "the impression of everyone out there that the
laboratories take too long, they do science for science's sake, engineering for engineering's
sake".
Kern proposed to unite the laboratories and research centers under a single command, and
the idea was initiated to senior commanders and civilians.
The new command was approved, and was provisionally stood up in October 2002, based at Aberdeen
Proving Grounds where it replaced and integrated the headquarters element of the Soldier and
Biological Chemical Command (SBCCOM).
In June 2003, RDECOM assumed operational control of the RDE centers.
An organizational ceremony took place in October 2003 at Aberdeen Proving Ground, where SBCCOM
officially stood down and the 389th Army Band and the Army Material Command's Acquisition
Center were assigned to RDECOM.
RDECOM became a major subordinate command of the Army Material Command in March 2004,
with over 17,000 military, civilian, and contractor personnel at the time.
In 2006, the 389th Army Band was designated AMC Band and moved to Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
In 2008, the AMC Acquisition Center became part of the new Army Contracting Command,
itself a major subordinate of the AMC.
From February 2012 to September 2014, RDECOM was led by a civilian commander, Dale Ormond,
before returning to military command.
== Future == As of 2018, CCDC reports to Army Futures Command,
which will reach full operational capability by August 2019.
The new command is focused on readiness for future combat with near-peer competitors,
in a shift away from the unconventional, asymmetric warfare fought in various theaters since 2001.
== Transfer to Army Futures Command ==
On June 4, 2018, the Headquarters, Department of the Army published General Order 2018-10,
"Establishment of the United States Army Futures Command," formally transferring RDECOM from
AMC to the new command effective July 1, 2018.
The transition of authority from AMC to AFC took place at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD
on 31 January 2019, with a reflagging of the Command and repatching of the commander and
CSM.
== See also == United States Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory
(MCWL) Naval Research Laboratory (DLR)
Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) DARPA