CERDEC strives daily to make a positive difference in the lives of Soldiers by conducting applied research, advanced technology development, and systems and sustainment engineering. To date, CERDEC has received more than 1,200 patents, more than 100 R&D awards and numerous Army’s Greatest Invention Awards.
The Army established the Army Materiel Command Aug. 1, 1962 during which time a subordinate element of AMC, the U.S. Army Electronics Command (USA ECOM), was established at Fort Monmouth, N.J.
Dr. Robert S. Wiseman, who served as Director of Research, Development and Engineering and Director of Laboratories, led ECOM. ECOM focused on combat surveillance and target acquisition, night vision, atmospheric sciences, avionics, communications/automatic data processing, electronic warfare, and electronics technology and devices.
On Jan. 3, 1978 ECOM was disestablished and three new Research and Development Commands were established under the Communications-Electronics Readiness Command (CERCOM). The Army established the new commands to improve the Army’s R&D Materiel Acquisition Life Cycle. These commands focused on electronics, communications automatic data processing and aviation. The Combat Surveillance and Target Acquisition Laboratory, Night Vision Laboratory, Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory, Electronic Warfare Laboratory, and Electronic Technology & Devices Laboratory came under the operational control of the Electronics R&D Command (ERADCOM), with provisional Headquarters at Adelphi, Md.
Late-70s technology developments fundamental to how the Army communicates and fights today included:
The Center for Communications Systems (CENCOMS), the Center for Tactical Computer Systems (CENTACS) and the Center for Systems Engineering and Integration (CENSEI) were aligned to form the Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) in May 1981 under Technical Director Theodore Pfeiffer.
On Oct. 1, 1985, the CECOM Research, Development and Engineering Center (RDEC) was created. This change was the result of AMC’s determination to improve the effectiveness of its laboratories and research and development centers. The Army re-designated the CECOM R&D Center as the CECOM Research, Development and Engineering Center (RDEC) under which CENCOMS and CENTACS combined to form the new Communications/Automated Data Processing Center (COMM/ADP). CENCOMS, CENTACS, and ERADCOM’s Electronic Warfare Laboratory and Combat Surveillance and Target Acquisition Laboratory merged to form the new Electronic Warfare/Reconnaissance Surveillance and Target Acquisition (EW/RSTA) Center. ERADCOM’s Signals Warfare Laboratory became the Signals Warfare Center, and ERADCOM’s Night Vision and Electro-Optics (NVE&O) Laboratory became the NV&EO Center.
Significant developments that emerged during the 1980s included:
The 1990s were rich in history with the leading effort of work undertaken by Robert Giordano and the engineering staff in support of Force XXI and Army Digitization in 1994 under the Battlefield Digitization and First Digital NTC rotation 94-07 "Desert Hammer VI."
Other significant efforts included:
The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC), formerly CECOM RDEC, was stood up on Oct. 1, 2002 when AMC Commander General Paul J. Kern directed the establishment of a Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM).
The RDECOM mission was to field technologies that sustain America’s Army as the premier land force in the world; thus, operational control of R&D activities transferred from CECOM to RDECOM, effective May 1, 2003. The command became official March 1, 2004 when the Department of the Army approved the RDECOM concept plan.
2000s technologies and accomplishments included: