page_title: United States Army Communications-Electronics Command
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: United States Army Communications-Electronics Command / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Communiations-Electronics Research and Development Engineering Center, better known as the Albert J. Myer Center, or simply, the Hexagon.
context_page_description: The Communications-Electronics Command is a Life Cycle Management Command of the United States Army based at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, United States. It is one of four such commands under the Army Materiel Command, and is the Army's provider and maintainer of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance capabilities.
  The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision relocated CECOM to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland as part of implementing the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure law. Its former home, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey has been closed since 15 September 2011.
  CECOM has approximately 13,000 military, civilian and contract personnel across six CECOM organizations:
  the Army Contracting Command-APG;
  Central Technical Support Facility, Fort Hood, Texas;
  CECOM Integrated Logistics Support Center;
  CECOM Software Engineering Center;
  Tobyhanna Army Depot; and the
  U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command, Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
context_section_description: The history of the Communications-Electronics Command began with the establishment of a Signal Corps training facility and radio research and development laboratory at Fort Monmouth, NJ in 1917. In 1929, the Signal Corps' Electrical Laboratory of Washington and the Signal Corps Research Laboratory of New York merged with the Radio Laboratories at Fort Monmouth to form the consolidated "Signal Corps Laboratories."
  In 1949, the Signal Corps Center was established and consolidated many existing Signal functions to include: the Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories, the Signal Corps Board, Signal School, Signal Corps Publications Agency, Signal Corps Intelligence Unit, Pigeon Breeding and Training Center, the Army portion of the Electro Standards Agency, and the Signal Corps troop units.
  The forerunner of the Army Air Corps and the U.S. Air Force had its roots at Fort Monmouth. In 1928, the first radio-equipped meteorological balloon soared into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, a forerunner of a weather sounding technique universally used today. In 1938, the first U.S. aircraft detection radar was developed at the Signal Corps Center. In 1946, space communications was proved feasible when the Diana Radar was used to bounce electronic signals off the moon.
  The Army disbanded the technical services and established the Electronics Command (ECOM) at Fort Monmouth in 1962. This CECOM predecessor was charged with managing Signal research, development, and logistics support. As a subordinate element of the newly formed United States Army Materiel Command (AMC), ECOM encompassed the Signal Research and Development Laboratories, the Signal Materiel Support Agency, the Signal Supply Agency and its various procurement offices, and other Signal Corps logistics support activities.
  ECOM was fragmented in January 1978 on the recommendation of the Army Materiel Acquisition Review Committee (AMARC) in order to form the following three Commands and one Activity: The Communications and Electronics Materiel Readiness Command (CERCOM), the Communications Research and Development Command (CORADCOM), the Electronics Research and Development Command (ERADCOM), and the Avionics Research and Development Activity (AVRADA).
  Reassessment of the changes at Fort Monmouth, begun in August 1980, concluded that, while the emphasis on research and development had increased for the better, there was also much duplication of effort. Thus, on 1 March 1981, AMC combined CERCOM and CORADCOM to form the new Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM), effective 1 May 1981.
  The 1993 Base Realignment and Closure Commission mandated the closing of the Evans Area, Vint Hill Farms Station, moving the United States Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center to Fort Monmouth under CECOM. Additionally, CECOM gained some missions and personnel from the Fort Belvoir Research and Development Center.
  The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission ordered the closure of Fort Monmouth and the relocation of CECOM to Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Maryland. The CECOM flag was cased at Fort Monmouth on 10 September 2010, and the colors were uncased on 22 October 2010, marking CECOM’s official arrival at APG, occupying the newly completed C4ISR Center of Excellence. Comprising six primary organizations, the C4ISR Materiel Enterprise includes three organizations from AMC and three from United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASA(ALT)). AMC organizations include: U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command; the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC); and the Army Contracting Command-APG. ASA(ALT) provides three Program Executive Offices to the team including: Program Executive Office Command Control Communications Tactical (PEO C3T); PEO for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors; and PEO for Enterprise Information Systems.
caption: The Signal Corps Center, Communications-Electronics Research and Development Engineering Center, better known as the Albert J. Myer Center
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