Army Research Laboratory
| Army Research Laboratory | |
|---|---|
Logo of the ARL
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| Active | October 1992 – present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Research and development |
| Garrison/HQ | Adelphi, Maryland |
| Commanders | |
| Director | Dr. Philip Perconti (Acting) |
The Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is the U.S. Army's corporate research laboratory. ARL is headquartered at the Adelphi Laboratory Center (ALC) in Adelphi, Maryland. Its largest single site is at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Other major ARL locations include Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Orlando, Florida, and NASA's Glenn Research Center, Ohio and Langley Research Center, Virginia.
In addition to the Army Research Office, ARL has six technical directorates:
Before the forming of the ARL, the United States Army had research facilities dating back to 1820 when the laboratory at Watertown Arsenal, Massachusetts, studied pyrotechnics and waterproof paper cartridges. This facility would evolve into the Materials Technology Laboratory. Most pre-WWII military research occurred within the military by military personnel, but in 1945, the Army published a policy affirming the need for civilian scientific contributions in military planning and weapons production. Non-military involvement before this time was frequent; however, methods for contribution to warfare technology was on limited and incidental basis. On June 11, 1946, a new research and development division of the War Department General Staff was created; however, due to internal forces within the military which supported the traditional technical service structure the division was closed. A variety of reorganizations took place over the next four decades, which put many organizations in command of Army research and development. Often commanders of these organizations were advocates of the reorganization, while some middle level management was opposed to the change.
The ARL represents the realization of a memorandum dated January 6, 1989 from the LABCOM Commander recommending integrating the corporate laboratories into a single entity. As part of the Base Realignment and Closure of 1989/1991, the consolidated research facilities would be located primarily at Adelphi Laboratory Center and Aberdeen Proving Ground. This would also relocate the majority of operations at MTL to APG. The Federal Advisory Commission reviewed and accepted the creation of ARL in 1992.
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