Ballistic Missile Defense Organization Explained

Agency Name:	Ballistic Missile Defense Organization
Nativename:	BMDO
Seal:	Bmdologo.png
Formed:	1974 (original) 1993 (newer version)
Dissolved:	1984 (renamed) 2002 (renamed)
Preceding1:	Strategic Defense Initiative(1993)
Superseding:	● Strategic Defense Initiative (1984) ● Missile Defense Agency (2002)
Jurisdiction:	Federal government of the United States

The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) was an agency of the United States Department of Defense that began on 20 May 1974 with the responsibility for all U.S. ballistic missile defense efforts. It was renamed the Missile Defense Agency in 2002.^[1]

History

BMDO evolved from the SAFEGUARD System Organization. The original mission of BMDO was comparable to that of SAFEGUARD, which was to defend U.S. ballistic missile sites, but BMDO additionally had the more general role of conducting research and development in advanced ballistic missile defense (BMD) technology and also managed what was then called the Kwajalein Missile Range (KMR). In July 1984, BMDO became a part of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) and one year later BMDO was renamed the U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command.

The name "Ballistic Missile Defense Organization" (BMDO) came back into use in 1993 when SDIO was renamed BMDO by the administration of President Bill Clinton and this was accompanied by a shift in emphasis from national missile defense to theater missile defense, i.e. from global to regional coverage. In 1998, focus shifted back to national missile defense when Defense secretary William Cohen proposed spending an additional $6.6 billion on ballistic missile defense programs to build a national system to protect against attacks from North Korea or accidental launches from Russia or China.^[2]

BMDO became better known in the public eye in 1994 when it launched a space probe, Clementine, to the Moon, in collaboration with NASA. BMDO was primarily interested in field testing new satellite and space reconnaissance technologies incorporated in Clementine, technologies which enabled Clementine to discover pockets of ice at the Moon's south pole.

BMDO was renamed the Missile Defense Agency in 2002 by the administration of President George W. Bush.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:750 height:700PlotArea = left:40 right:30 top:10 bottom:20 DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyyTimeAxis = orientation:vertical order:normal format:yyyyPeriod = from:05/20/1974 till:01/02/2002AlignBars = earlyScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:01/01/1975ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:05/20/1974Colors = id:gray value:gray(0.7)

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PlotData = bar:event width:20 color:blue shift:($dx,-4)

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mark:(line,white) at:01/02/2002 text:"January 2, 2002, BMDO was renamed the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) by G. W. Bush administration." at:01/25/2001 text:"January 25, 2001, successful flight test of SM-3 / LEAP." at:05/11/1999 shift:($dx,5) text:"May 11, 1999, Lt. Gen. Ronald T. Kadish USAF confirmed as director of BMDO." at:03/17/1999 shift:($dx,-5) text:"March 16-17, 1999, The US Senate and House voted to commit the United States to deploy a national anti-missile defense system." at:08/31/1998 text:"August 31, 1998, North Korean test of a Taepo Dong-1 missile over Japan." at:02/07/1997 text:"February 7, 1997, A PAC-2 missile successfully intercepted a simulated SCUD TBM." at:06/26/1996 text:"August 2, 1996, Lt. Gen. Lester G. Lyles USAF confirmed as director of BMDO." at:03/01/1996 shift:($dx,-10) text:"March 1996, The Peoples' Republic of China (PRC) fired four M-9 missiles that landed near Taiwan." at:02/11/1994 shift:($dx,7) text:"February 11, 1994, Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT) selected for the PAC-3 theater missile defense program." at:01/25/1994 shift:($dx,-2) text:"January 25, 1994, Clementine mission to the moon, testing BMD sensor technology." at:08/04/1993 text:"November 19, 1993, Maj. Gen. Malcolm O'Neill USAF confirmed as director of BMDO and promoted to Lt. Gen. on November 22." at:05/13/1993 shift:($dx,-11) text:"May 13, 1993, SDIO was renamed the BMDO by Clinton administration." at:07/01/1985 text:"July 1, 1985, BMDO was renamed the U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command." at:07/01/1984 text:"July 1984, BMDO became a part of Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) which was created 3 months earlier by Reagan administration." at:05/20/1974 text:"May 20, 1974, BMDO began as a replacement of SAFEGUARD and was responsible for all U.S. ballistic missile defense efforts."

See also

• Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO), predecessor organization
• Missile Defense Agency (MDA), successor organization
• Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD), previously named National Missile Defense (NMD)
• Anti-satellite weapons
• Anti-ballistic missile
• Militarization of space

References

Book: Bernstein . Lewis . Lang . Sharon . Seize the High Ground - The Army in Space and Missile Defense . U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (SMDC/ARSTRAT) . 2003 . Redstone Arsenal, Alabama . 2010-12-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110115085421/http://www.smdc.army.mil/2008/HistoryBook.asp . 2011-01-15 . dead. Chapter III

External links

• Missile Defense Agency
• Missile Defense Agency history page

Notes and References

1. Web site: MDA History. January 23, 2019. mda.mil. May 31, 2019.
2. Web site: A VIABLE DEFENSE? . 2010-12-31 . Farnsworth . Elizabeth . 1999-01-28 . Online NewsHour . MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. https://web.archive.org/web/20110127132413/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/military/jan-june99/nmd_1-28a.html. 27 January 2011 . live.