The U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command, or ATEC, is a direct reporting unit of the United States Army responsible for developmental testing, independent operational testing, independent evaluations, assessments, and experiments of Army equipment.[1][2]
As a direct reporting unit (DRU) under the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, ATEC informs Army senior leaders of testing and evaluation activities.[3]
ATEC is located throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. Command headquarters is located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.[3]
Consolidation of all existing U.S. Army developmental and operational testing commands was approved by the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army on 18 November 1998. This decision led to the redesignation of Operational Test and Evaluation Command (OPTEC) to the Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) on 1 October 1999.[4][5]
All major subordinate commands of OPTEC were redesignated as well with the original U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (TECOM) redesignated as the U.S. Army Developmental Test Command (DTC), Aberdeen Proving Ground; the Test and Experimentation Command (TEXCOM) was redesignated the U.S. Army Operational Test Command (OTC), at Fort Hood, Texas; and the Operational Evaluation Command and the Evaluation Analysis Center were combined to form the new U.S. Army Evaluation Center (AEC) located at Aberdeen Proving Ground.[3]
ATEC employs approximately 9,000 military, civilian and contract employees that are highly skilled test officers, engineers, scientists, technicians, researchers, and evaluators. ATEC is involved in more than 2,300 tests annually that encompass everything from individual weapons to National Missile Defense systems.[1]
The annual budget for the command is in excess of half a billion dollars.[citation needed]
ATEC conducts testing for all branches of the military and maintains a large customer base that includes the National Security Agency, Joint Chiefs of Staff, allied foreign countries, and Congress.[citation needed]
Operational Test Command (OTC) locations:
On November 18, 1998, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army approved consolidation of developmental and operational testing. That decision led to the re-designation of the Operational Test and Evaluation Command (OPTEC) to the Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) on October 1, 1999.