| Unit Name: | U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command |
| Dates: | 1 Oct 1999 – present |
| Country: |  United States |
| Garrison: | Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland |
| Motto: | Truth in Testing |
| Commander1: | Major General Patrick L. Gaydon |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Distinctive unit insignia |
| Identification Symbol 2 Label: | Shoulder Sleeve Insignia |
| Identification Symbol 3 Label: | Beret flashes worn by the Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate (left) and Airborne Test Force (right) |
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]
ATEC is located throughout the continental United States and Hawaii. Command headquarters is located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.[2]
Consolidation of all Army developmental and operational testing commands was approved by the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army on 18 Nov. 1998. The decision led to the redesignation of the Operational Test and Evaluation Command to ATEC on 1 Oct. 1999. All major subordinate commands of OPTEC were redesignated as well with the Test and Evaluation command redesignated as the U.S. Army Developmental Test Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground; the Test and Experimentation Command was redesignated the U.S. Army Operational Test Command, Fort Hood, Texas; and the Operational Evaluation Command and the Evaluation Analysis Center were combined to form the new U.S. Army Evaluation Center located at Aberdeen Proving Ground.[2]
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. 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 1,100 tests daily that encompass everything from individual weapons to National Missile Defense systems. The annual budget for the command is in excess of half a billion dollars.[1] [3]
Operational Test Command (OTC) locations:
Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate
Air Defense Artillery Test Directorate
Fires Test Directorate
Intelligence Electronic Warfare Test Directorate