Editing Redstone Arsenal (section)

===Huntsville Arsenal===
As part of the mobilization leading to U.S. involvement in World War II, Huntsville Arsenal was established in 1941 to create an inland chemical weapons plant in addition to one in [[Edgewood, Maryland]]. It was announced by the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] on July 3, 1941.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016|title=75th Anniversary of Redstone Arsenal|url=https://www.amc.army.mil/Portals/9/Documents/AMC%20Publications/Historical%20Files/75th%20Anniversary%20of%20Redstone%20Arsenal.pdf|access-date=2020-07-23|publisher=U.S. Army Materiel Command|page=14}}</ref> Over 550 families were displaced when the Army acquired the land, including over 300 tenants and sharecroppers.  Most of the landowners were allowed to salvage their assets and rebuild elsewhere. The remaining buildings were almost all razed by the War Department. A land-use agreement was arranged with the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] for the Army to use about {{convert|1250|acre|km2}} of land along the Tennessee River.

The military installation was originally composed of three separate entities: the Huntsville Arsenal and the Huntsville Depot (later the Gulf Chemical Warfare Depot), which were operated under the auspices of the [[Chemical Corps|Chemical Warfare Service]]; and the Redstone Ordnance Plant, operated by the [[United States Army Ordnance Department]]. The name ''Redstone'' drew on the region's [[Iron(III) oxide|red]] [[Hematite|rocks]] and [[Geography of Alabama#Climate and soil|soil]].<ref>Cagle, Mary T. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20111015121417/http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/huntsville/history_redstone_arsenal.pdf &#91;Early&#93; History of Redstone Arsenal]". Public Information Office, Redstone Arsenal.</ref>

In the immediate post-war era the Arsenal was used for research and development by German weapons rocket scientists who had been brought to the U.S. as part of [[Operation Paperclip]]. The team first worked on [[ballistic missile]]s, starting with [[V-2 rocket]] derivatives, before moving on to a series of ever larger designs. Many of their tests were carried out at [[White Sands Missile Range]] and flights between the two locations were common. In late 1956 the Army was relieved of most of its ballistic missiles in favor of similar weapons operated by the [[US Air Force]].

The German design team was spun off to become part of the newly founded [[NASA|National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)]]. The Cold War had moved to space, and the US intended to compete with the Soviet Union there as well as across the globe. The Arsenal served as the primary site for space [[launch vehicle]] design into the 1960s.

[[File:RSA Munitions.jpg|thumb|left|1940s munitions production at Huntsville Arsenal]]
In its early years, the arsenal produced and stockpiled chemical weapons such as [[phosgene]], [[Lewisite]], and [[mustard gas]]. The use of toxic gases in warfare was banned under the Geneva Protocol of 1925, but the U.S. signed with the reservation that it be allowed to use chemical weapons against aggressors who used them. The facility also produced [[carbonyl iron]] powder (for [[magnetic core|radio and radar tuning]]), tear gas, and smoke and incendiary devices. The arsenal also produced small pyrotechnic devices including small solid-fuel rockets during the war. In recognition of its production record, the arsenal received the [[Army-Navy "E" Award]] four times, the first on October 31, 1942. The ordnance plant was renamed Redstone Arsenal in 1943. Through the war years, more than 27,000,000 items of chemical munitions were produced and 45,200,000 ammunition shells were loaded. [[Redstone Army Airfield]] was established in 1943 for the [[United States Army Air Forces|6th Army Air Force]] to test incendiary devices in preparation for the [[Air raids on Japan|firebombing of Japanese cities]].<ref name="baker">Baker, Michael E. ''Redstone Arsenal: Yesterday and Today''. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993-758-626/80050; summary: http://geckocountry.com/redstons.shtml</ref>

Three days after the announcement of the Japanese surrender, production facilities at the installation were put on standby. After the war, Huntsville Arsenal was briefly used as the primary storage facility for the Chemical Warfare Service, and for manufacture of gas masks and dismantling of surplus incendiary bombs. Most of the wartime civilian workforce was furloughed, dropping to 600 from a wartime high of around 4,400. Much of the arsenal land was leased for agriculture, and many of the buildings were leased for local industry. By 1947, the installation was declared to be excess, the first step toward demilitarization.<ref name="baker"/>

Major political and commercial efforts were made in searching for government or business tenants for the space. In early 1948, several buildings of Huntsville Arsenal were leased by the newly formed Keller Motors Corporation with the intention of establishing a major automobile manufacturing complex.  Only 18 [[Keller (automobile)|Keller]] prototype vehicles were built before the firm's president and primary organizer, George Keller, suddenly died and the operation folded.<ref>Gross, Ken, and Rich Taylor; "[http://assets.hemmings.com/uimage/2197977-0-1200.jpg America's Most Needed Car]", ''Special Interest Autos'' no. 30, September–October 1975, pp. 32–40, 59.</ref>

The [[United States Army Air Forces|Army Air Forces]] was searching for a site to establish a major air development center and considered Huntsville Arsenal. In 1949, a competing site near [[Tullahoma, Tennessee]] was selected. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army then directed that Huntsville Arsenal be advertised for sale by 1 July 1949. The proposed sale never happened, because the Army found it needed the land for the new mission of developing and testing rocket systems. [[Thiokol Corporation]] moved operations to Redstone Arsenal from Maryland in the summer of 1949 to research and develop rocket propellants, while [[Rohm and Haas]] began work on rockets and jet propulsion. On June 30, 1949, Huntsville Arsenal was deactivated and consolidated with the other two entities to become Redstone Arsenal. Command responsibilities were assumed by Redstone.<ref name="baker"/>