[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 72 (Wednesday, May 23, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E916-E917]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE ARNOLD ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT CENTER ON THE OCCASION OF 
                          ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. VAN HILLEARY

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 23, 2001

  Mr. HILLEARY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the United States 
Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center at Arnold Air Force 
Base, Tennessee, which celebrates its 50th Anniversary on June 25, 
2001.
  The test center is named after 5-star General Henry `Hap' Arnold, 
World War II commander of the Army Air Corps, and the father of the 
United States Air Force. In 1944, General Arnold asked Dr. Theodore von 
Karman to form a scientific advisory group to chart a long-range 
research and development program for the Air Force. After World War II, 
members of this group visited Germany to view its research and 
development facilities. They were disturbed to find that the German 
scientists were years ahead of the United States in the development of 
aerospace technology. Fortunately for us, Germany had made these 
technological advances too late in the war, and had to surrender before 
it could take full advantage of them. Even today, it is chilling to 
think what might have happened if the Axis powers had been able to hold 
out just a little longer.
  General Arnold knew that America was unlikely to be that fortunate 
again, and determined that in order to keep America's Air Force 
prepared to fight and win our nation's wars, we needed a first class 
flight simulation test facility. In 1949, Congress authorized $100 
million for the construction of such a facility at the Army's old Camp 
Forrest between Tullahoma and Manchester, Tennessee. On June 25, 1951, 
President Harry S Truman

[[Page E917]]

himself dedicated AEDC, declaring that, ``Never again will the United 
States ride the coat tails of other countries in the progress and 
development of the aeronautical art.''
  In the 50 years since, the world's largest and most complex 
collection of flight simulation test facilities has made good on that 
promise, AEDC's wind tunnels, jet and rocket altitude test cells, space 
chambers and ballistic ranges have played a vital role in the 
development and sustainment of every American high performance 
aircraft, missile and space system in use today. Twenty-seven of the 
center's 58 test facilities are unique in the United States. Fourteen 
can be found nowhere else in the world. But what makes AEDC special 
can't be measured simply in nuts and bolts. It also lies in the 
unsurpassed quality of the engineers, scientists, technicians, 
craftsmen and support personnel who work there.
  Thanks in part to the tireless efforts of these dedicated men and 
women, the Cold War that President Truman and General Arnold prepared 
for has been won. But now, America faces an uncertain world of emerging 
threats, requiring the development of an advanced American space and 
missile defense, and a new generation of manned and unmanned aircraft. 
As it has since its inception, AEDC will lead the way in the U.S. Air 
Force's efforts to protect American liberty by remaining the world's 
preeminent aerospace power.
  I salute the hard work of the men and women of AEDC, both past and 
present, and look forward to AEDC's next 50 years as America's premier 
flight simulation test facility.

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