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Army Research Laboratory (ARL)

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is the Army's primary source of fundamental and applied research. Its mission is to provide the Army with the key technologies and analytical support necessary to ensure supremacy in future land warfare. ARL has state-of-the-art facilities and a workforce that includes about 1250 scientists and engineers. It constitutes the largest source of integrated science and technology services in the Army. ARL has six primary business areas. They are weapons and materials research, human research and engineering, sensors and electron devices, survivability/lethality analysis, computational and information science, and vehicle technology.

The lab occupies two major sites, both in Maryland: the Adelphi Laboratory Center [formerly Harry Diamond Laboratories] and the Aberdeen Proving Ground. It also operates unique outdooor facilities at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The lab has two research elements that are co-located with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) activities in Cleveland, Ohio, and Hampton, VA. ARL receives considerable benefit from the Army Research Office (ARO) in Research Triangle Park, NC, which was recently realigned with ARL.

ARL has a total of approximately 2,280 employees of which about 60 are military. The remainder are civilians.

Mr. Harry Diamond was born in Russia on February 12, 1900 and immigrated to the United States as a child. He joined the National Bureau of Standards in 1927 and became Chief of the Electronics Division. Later, as Chief of the Ordnance Development Division he was assigned the task of supervising the development of proximity fuzes for nonrotating projectiles such as bombs, rockets, and mortars. Diamond, through his vast knowledge in the field of electronics, contributed greatly to the fundamental concept and design of proximity fuzes. The Ordnance Development Division, was transferred to the U.S. Army in 1953 and renamed the Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories in honor of Mr. Diamond. It was later renamed the Harry Diamond Laboratories. Mr. Diamond died in 1948.

Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories (DOFL) officially came into existence as a Department of Defense entity on 27 September 1953 when the Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards (NBS), transferred the facility and mission to the Department of the Army. However, the facility's origin began in December, 1940 when the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) entered into an agreement with the NBS for the research and development of proximity fuzes and other related articles for rockets, bombs and mortar shells. At that time, the NBS operated one of the premier scientific research facilities in the government on this campus in the district of Columbia.

The former Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories consisted of a group of buildings and facilities on approximately 35 acres of land in the northwestern quarter of Washington, D.C. at Latitude 38° 56' 00" N, Longitude 77° 03' 00" W. The site boundaries were roughly Van Ness Street to the south, Reno Road to the west, Yuma Street to the north and Connecticut Avenue on the east.

In the fall of 1944, the Chief of Ordnance signed an agreement under which the NBS continued research and development on proximity fuzes. In May 1945, The NBS broke ground for construction of an ordnance and electronics laboratory. The program expanded to include related ordnance research activities, such as missile development, all of which continued under the Department of Commerce through 1953. Although engaged in work for the Department of Defense, activities occurring prior to 27 September 1953 was a Department of Commerce activity.

With the transfer of the fuze and missile program to the Department of the Army, Chief of Ordnance the Class II activity was renamed Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratories. It continued the mission of providing for the research and development of fuzes and related items, consulting and liaison services, fabrication of models and prototypes, and performance of developmental testing. By 1955, the mission expanded to include industrial engineering to the completion of mass production items, improvement of manufacturing processes, and solving problems of procurement.

In August 1962, DOFL transferred to the newly formed Army Materiel Command, which redesignated it as Harry Diamond Laboratories (HDL) on 13 November 1962. The mission expanded to include research and development in technical fields such as microwave components and antennas, radio frequency generators, semiconductor devices, integrated circuits, reserve batteries, lasers, nuclear radiation effects, mechanics and materials. Work continued on prototype and experimental fuzes for rockets, bombs, mortars and guided missiles.

Between 1956 and 1966, HDL made several attempts to acquire the facility in title from the Department of Commerce, since the NBS planned a move to Gaithersburg, Maryland. The National Capitol Planning Commission denied the requests and future use of the site. The GSA received title to the property in 1968 and gave HDL five to ten years to relocate. Between 1973 and 1976, HDL moved to a new location in Adelphi, MD where it is presently located and known as the Army Research Laboratory. Consequently, GSA redeveloped the entire NBS research campus, including the portions used by DOFL/HDL. The University of the District of Columbia and the embassies for Egypt and Austria currently occupy the site.