AL.com:
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Lt. Gen. James H. Dickinson, commanding general, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, and commander of Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, addressed the 23rd annual membership luncheon of the Air, Space and Missile Defense Association Jan. 30.
“Research and development of new capabilities has been one of SMDC’s core tasks since it began, 60 years ago,” Dickinson said. “SMDC’s 60th anniversary coincides closely with another 60th anniversary, the launch of the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1. Explorer’s effect on the course of our history can’t be overstated.”
Dickinson spoke to the audience of more than 250 about his pride in the Army’s legacy. Soon after building the nation’s first space program, the Army provided the core facilities, material and personnel NASA and the Marshall Space Flight Center would become in 1960.
