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11th Commander
White Sands Missile Range
Page 11 of 26
Major
General Arthur Sweeney
Commander
Jun 1, 1972 - Jul 21, 1974
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Major General Arthur H. Sweeney, the 11th Commander
of White Sands Proving Ground/Missile Range, was born in Charleston, West
Virginia, November 9, 1920, and graduated from Parkersburg High School,
Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1938. He attended the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was commissioned a second
lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps upon graduation on April 27, 1942.
Following assignments at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey,
in the Southwest Pacific area at various locations in New Guinea and the
Philippines, and Washington, DC, General Sweeney, then a captain, reverted
to inactive status.
While attending the Harvard Graduate School of Business
Administration in 1947, General Sweeney was commissioned a first lieutenant
in the Regular Army with temporary rank of captain.
Following his graduation with a Master’s in Business
Administration, he served in several interim assignments, including training
in industry with the DuPont Corporation and as an instructor at The Ordnance
School.
Between 1950 and 1952 he served in the Management
Office, Office of the Chief of Ordnance. In October 1953 he was named
Assistant Military Attaché in Berne, Switzerland, remaining there until his
as assignment in July 1956 to the U.S. Army Ballistics Missile Agency,
Huntsville, Alabama. In his capacity as Assistant Director, Industrial
Operation Division, General Sweeney (then major) worked in planning the
production of Redstone and Jupiter ballistic missile systems.
In July 1958, following his promotion to lieutenant
colonel, he assumed command of the 701st Ordnance Battalion, 1st Infantry
Division, and remained in that capacity until his assignment in January 1961
as chief of the Ordnance Section, Military Advisory and Assistance Group,
Cambodia.
Upon returning to the U.S. from Cambodia in April 1963,
he was designated a military member of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament
Agency where his work included planning the first US inspection of
international bases in the Antarctic and research in inspection methods
applicable to International Arms Control Agreement.
In September 1965, following his graduation from the
Industrial College of the Armed Forces and promotion to colonel, he assumed
command of Springfield Armory, Springfield, Massachusetts, and remained
there until his assignment on November 1, 1967, as commander, Watervliet
Arsenal, New York.
In September 1968, following his nomination for
promotion to brigadier general, he was assigned as the deputy commander of
the US Army Weapons Command, Rock Island, Illinois. Following nomination for
promotion to major general in May 1970, he assumed command of the US Army
Support Command in Qui Nhon, Vietnam. In November 1970 General Sweeney was
reassigned as the commanding general of the US Army Support Command, Da Nang,
where he remained until phase out of that command in April 1972. He returned
to the Continental United States in May 1972 and assumed duties as
commanding general of the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
General Sweeney is also a graduate of the US Army
Command and General Staff College, The Ordnance School, the Strategic
Intelligence School and the Army Language School. General Sweeney has been
the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the
Air Medal, the Joint Services Commendation Medal and the Army Commendation
Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters. His foreign awards include the National
Order of Vietnam, the Army Distinguished Service Order (Vietnam) and the
Order of Military Merit (Korea).
He was married to the former Veronica Donovan of
Sidney, Australia.
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