AEDC CONTRIBUTOR

Brad Hicks

In celebration of the Arnold Engineering Development Complex’s 75 years of operation, Lakeway Publishers Inc. is presenting a deep dive into the history of the military institution this year.

In June 1952, it was announced that Air Force and Arnold Research Organization offices would begin transitioning from Northern Field to the Arnold Engineering Development Center site.

This move took around six months to complete. By January 1953, the complete shift of personnel from Northern Field to the Center was completed.

Staff numbers continued to increase at the AEDC. By the end of October 1952, ARO, the corporation established to manage and operate the AEDC, reported its employment had increased to 716, up 45 from the previous year.

The AEDC continued to evolve to accommodate the growing personnel numbers. In January 1953, two dining rooms opened in the Administration & Engineering Building with the main cafeteria opening the following month.

“The feed facilities were greatly needed since by March, ARO’s employment figure had risen to 1,110,” the Golden Anniversary newspaper states.

On April 14, 1953, then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was sworn in that January, signed a bill appropriating funds to pay ARO for operating the AEDC. This brought to an end a year-long controversy over the company and its contract with the Air Force.

During his campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1952, then-U.S. Rep. Al Gore Sr. raised questions on the floor of the House about the contract between the Air Force and ARO as well as the size of the fee the company was to receive for operating the AEDC.

“It was even alleged that the site for Arnold Center had been made in May 1948 – some 17 months before it was publicly announced,” the Golden Anniversary newspaper states. “The allegations were denied by those involved in the decision-making process.”

Gore was successful in having an amendment added to the AEDC appropriations bill prohibiting any of the funds from being used to reimburse ARO. This resulted in a congressional hearing in 1953, followed by a repeal of the amendment by the House in March of that year and the Senate the following month.

After alterations were made to the formula by which ARO’s fee was to be determined, Gore agreed to the repeal.

“During the five-month period while ARO Inc. was effectively barred from operating the center, from March to August, 1953, Sverdrup & Parcel had taken over the administration without a fee,” the Golden Anniversary newspaper states.

Operation of the center was officially returned to ARO in August.

Sverdrup & Parcel was the St. Louis-based engineering firm awarded an Army Air Forces contract in 1946 to study potential sites for the AEDC and which was later hired to study the Elk River Dam project to provide cooling water to the Center.

The area experienced continued growth throughout 1954. New housing began to sprout up throughout Tullahoma.

The town also received a new population-growth projection from the Federal Housing Administration.

According to the FHA, the population of Tullahoma in June 1954 was 14,575. By 1963, that number was expected to near 17,500 and exceed 18,000 by 1968.

“Once again, the projections were overly optimistic,” the Golden Anniversary newspaper states. The city reached 12,242 in 1960, and in 1990, the official count was 16,671.

“One factor that may not have been taken into account, in addition to overestimating the center’s staffing requirements, was the number of newcomers drawn to the area who settled in the rural areas or in adjoining counties,” the Golden Anniversary newspaper states.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of Tullahoma as of July 1, 2024, was 21,035.

For the first three decades of the Center’s existence, the site on which it was established was referred to as either the Air Engineering Development Center or Arnold Engineering Development Center.

On April 20, 1979, however, the name of the installation was changed to Arnold Air Force Station. The organization retained the Arnold Engineering Development Center moniker.

On Sept. 15, 1987, Arnold Air Force Station was redesignated as Arnold Air Force Base.