ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- The months, weeks and days leading up to and following the June 25, 1951, dedication of the Arnold Engineering Development Center were teeming with conjecture, planning and activity.
The former Camp Forrest Army training base in middle Tennessee was selected as the site for what was then being referred to as the Air Engineering Development Center in 1948, and construction of the Center was authorized by Congress in October 1949. On Nov. 9, 1949, then-Secretary of the Air Force W. Stuart Symington formally announced AEDC would be built at Camp Forrest.
In January 1950, prior to the dedication of AEDC in honor of Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold, the Air Engineering Development Division was established at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
“The Air Engineering Development Division will operate as a separate operating agency under the direct control of the Chief of Staff, USAF, with the procedural functions and responsibilities of a major air command,” the Dec. 30, 1949, letter ordering the establishment of the Division states. “The ‘Headquarters, Air Engineering Development Division’ will be designated and organized by the Commanding General, Air Engineering Development Division as a table of distribution unit.
“The Headquarters, Air Engineering Development Division is attached to Air Materiel Command for administrative and logistic support in accordance with joint use agreement between the Commanding General, Air Materiel Command and the Commanding General, Air Engineering Development Division.”
That letter further stated that funding for the Air Engineering Development Division would be accomplished directly to the Division by the headquarters of the Air Force effective Jan. 1, 1950.
Although the Air Engineering Development Center was ceremonially dedicated as the Arnold Engineering Development Center by then-President Harry Truman in 1951, the Center had actually received the new designation months earlier. On Feb. 10, 1950, a little less than a month after Gen. Arnold’s death, Symington ordered the Air Engineering Development Center be redesignated as the Arnold Engineering Development Center.
In mid-November 1950, the Air Engineering Development Division moved from Wright-Patterson AFB to Tullahoma.
On Nov. 14, 1950, AEDC was placed on active status by the U.S. Air Force Headquarters. On Aug. 3, 1951, the Air Engineering Development Division was redesignated the Arnold Engineering Development Center, meaning the installation and the organization overseeing its operations would share the same name.
After construction on the Center began in mid-1950, Tullahoma, the closest town to AEDC, and surrounding areas began preparing for an influx of new residents associated with the Center.
According to the Golden Anniversary newspaper published in 2001 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of AEDC, the population of Tullahoma grew from 4,549 in 1940 to approximately 7,800 in 1950.
“Estimates of just how far and fast the city’s population would grow varied widely,” the paper stated.
In July 1950, Tullahoma city government officials were advised to expect the town’s population to reach 20,000 in five years, including 10,000 construction and operating personnel at AEDC. The city was further told that by spring of the following year, there could be 10,000 to 18,000 construction workers at the Center.
Just five days later, however, an Air Force officer drastically revised those numbers, referring to them as “ultimate probabilities.” The officer instead projected population growth at 4,000 over the ensuing five years with about 1,500 operating personnel.
Despite the anticipated population jump, officials with the Arnold Research Organization, the corporation established to manage and operate AEDC, made clear that the Center would not follow the German model of Peenemünde. The village of Peenemünde became of the site of the German Army Research Center where German missiles and rockets were developed.
“It is the desire of the management of ARO that employees live in and become part of one of the local communities,” ARO Housing Representative John H. McGavock said in December 1950. “There’s no thought of constructing a ‘government town.’”
Both the Air Force and Tullahoma city government officials by spring of 1951 were requesting that Tullahoma be declared a “critical area” to facilitate home construction under the Federal Housing Administration mortgage guarantee program.
“Since such a ‘critical area’ would cover a 20-mile radius, it would also include Manchester, Winchester, Shelbyville, Decherd and Lynchburg,” the Golden Anniversary newspaper states.
Around that same time, the Air Force applied for 200 units of “Wherry housing” – federally financed housing for military personnel. Wherry housing was used to house military personnel at Sewart Air Force Base in Smyrna, Tenn. Sewart AFB was active from 1941 to 1971. The Air Force also sought a 150-room hotel near AEDC.
In April 1951, there were a total of 456 AEDC employees. Of these, 260 were Air Force, 170 were with the Corps of Engineers, 14 were employed by Sverdrup & Parcel and 12 were with ARO. All personnel were headquartered at Northern Field near Tullahoma.
In June of that year, Tullahoma was declared a “critical area” and approved for 324 units, including 254 rental units and 70 two-bedroom homes to be sold.
The population increase in the areas surrounding AEDC had a significant impact on the region.
“Tullahoma and Coffee County had seen its share of boom times, thanks to the tens of thousands of troops who passed through Camp Forrest during World War II,” the Golden Anniversary newspaper states. “But it was appreciated that it was transitory like the soldiers who passed through its gates.
“This time it was for real. The Air Force, the Corps of Engineers, the contractors and the politicians were talking dollar amounts in the millions, even tens of millions. The president confirmed that AEDC was to play an important, and permanent, part in the country’s future.
“Practically everywhere you looked there was activity – roads being built, shipments coming in by rail, official-looking strangers with eagles and stars on their shoulders. In town, housing was going up and the city’s politicians were given to long discussions about populations and schools and utilities and government grants.”
This is the fifth in a series of articles highlighting the history of Arnold Engineering Development Complex during its first 75 years. Additional articles will be published throughout 2026 to commemorate the anniversary of AEDC.