more at: http://scitech.quickfound.net/aviation_news_and_search.html 'SYSTEMS COMMAND 1980: A COMPLETE OVERVIEW OF THE AIR FORCE SYSTEMS COMMAND MISSION. DESCRIBES THE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, ACQUISITION, TEST, AND EVALUATION ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMAND. IDENTIFIES THE LABORATORIES, PRODUCT DIVISIONS, CENTERS, AND RANGES THAT SYSTEMS COMMAND MANAGES. REVIEWS SEVERAL OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND WEAPON SYSTEMS BEING ACQUIRED FOR THE AIR FORCE. ALSO EXPLAINS THE COMMAND'S BUDGET AND MANPOWER IN COMPARISON WITH THE AIR FORCE.' AFSC Staff Film Report 288 Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied. The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Systems_Command The Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command. It was established in April 1951, being split off from Air Materiel Command. The mission of AFSC was Research and Development for new weapons systems... Overview AFSC took on engineering functions which formerly resided in the Air Materiel Command (AMC), the Army Air Forces Technical Service Command (TSC), and the Air Technical Service Command (ATSC) as a separate research and development command in 1950. It incorporated Air Proving Ground Command in 1957. In the reorganization of 1961, Air Force Systems Command acquired the materiel procurement function from Air Force Logistics Command. On 1 July 1992, AFSC and Air Force Logistics Command were merged to form the Air Force Materiel Command, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio... History Origins The origins of Air Force Systems Command date at least to the establishment of the Airplane Engineering Department by the Chief Signal Officer, U.S. Army, on 13 October 1917 at McCook Field, Ohio. Re-designated the Engineering Division of the U.S. Army Air Service in March 1919, this organization carried out the research, development and testing of military aircraft, engines, airships and accessories. Renamed the Materiel Division of the newly established Army Air Corps in October 1926, it undertook the procurement, supply and maintenance activities of Army aviation. ...on 23 January 1950, the Research and Development Command (RDC) came into being. Eight months later it was re-designated the Air Research and Development Command (ARDC) as a separate organization devoted strictly to research and development. During the 1950s, the new command began to make its mark. ARDC developed many ambitious aircraft and missile prototypes. Among the successes of this period were the North American F-86 Sabre swept wing fighter, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress intercontinental bomber, the Lockheed C-130 Hercules turboprop transport and the Lockheed U-2 very high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft. In addition, ARDC played a major contribution in the development of Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which became a priority after the world learned that the Soviet Union had detonated a thermonuclear (hydrogen) bomb on 23 August 1953. A crash program was employed which developed America's first ICBM (the SM-65D Atlas), that became operational in 1959...