There was no fanfare or flags flying when MASSTER was established.  But, under the command of the U.S. Continental Army Command, they had a mission "...to ensure development of an optimum battlefield intelligence gathering system as part of the Army's integrated area control system and provide for the evaluation of review of Army surveillance, target acquisition, and night observation matters."

What the mission statement boiled down to was test and evaluation of a multitude of night observation and target acquisition devices in the Army and determine the best of each type system, along with some new ones as they were being developed.

The III Corps and Fort Hood Commander, Lt. Gen. Beverly Powell, was designated as the Project Director, but his deputy, Maj. Gen. John Norton, had the effective authority in the organization and was responsible for quickly getting the project off the ground and implementing the charter issued by the Department of the Army.  Norton, inducted into the Operational Testers' Hall of Fame in 1994, was "the Father of MASSTER."

Fort Hood was selected as the site for Project MASSTER by reason of the fact that the reservation had some 340 square miles of the type terrain suitable for simulating most places in the world.

Fort Hood was also the home of III Corps and its two divisions with supporting troops.  Furthermore, the terrain was suitable to conduct both low- and mid-intensity testing and experimentation.

On October 17, 1969, Project MASSTER moved to Building 91025 at the newly designated West Fort Hood, formerly "Killeen Base."  This building that was dubbed the "White House" would be home for the headquarters for the next 19 years.

From the very beginning, the Soldier was in the loop.  Field tests were defined as placing new equipment in the hands of the troops.  This basic philosophy has never changed over the organization's 40-year history.

A Fort Hood Soldier thought a more descriptive meaning for MASSTER was "Making American Soldiers Safer Through Electronic Reconnaissance."

The first tests where men, materiel, and concept of employment were tested as a system occurred during MASSTER I in April 1970,  using a Vietnam-type tactical area of operations scenario, including the establishment of a fire base.

"I believe MASSTER, working with the combat and materiel developers, has been successful in providing our combat forces in Vietnam with tested doctrine, materiel, and organization that provide a positive improvement in our overall combat operations," stated Lt. Gen. John Norton in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Testing moved into the Central Texas skies in late 1970 and into 1971 as airborne STANO systems came under MASSTER's scrutiny.

 MASSTER TO MASSTER

The Army's recognition of the contributions made by Project MASSTER to the modernization of the Army through operational test and evaluation, which made maximum use of new technologies, resulted in the organization becoming permanent.

In August 1970, Project MASSTER was re-designated Headquarters, Modern Army Selected Systems Test, Evaluation and Review—still MASSTER.  In September 1971, MASSTER's charter was expanded to include test and evaluation of the tactical concepts of the Triple Capability (TRICAP) Division and Air Cavalry Combat Brigade (ACCB).

The 1st Cavalry Division returned from Vietnam and replaced the 1st Armored Division.  The First Team reorganized immediately into TRICAP configuration:  an armored brigade, airmobile infantry brigade, and an all-new ACCB.

The ACCB (2nd "Blackhorse" Brigade) went on its first field test in September 1971 with hundreds of its helicopters.  This was the largest airmobile test since before Vietnam, in 1965, when the 1lth Air Assault was tested at Fort Benning, Georgia.

At the same time, on North Fort Hood, MASSTER and 1st Cav Soldiers were testing experimental helicopter drones to perform unmanned aerial cavalry missions.

In early 1972, ACCB tests pitted the helicopters against threat air defense weapons and tanks in sudden battlefield engagements.  In conjunction with other ACCB/TRICAP field exercises, there were some 3,500 troops covering much of Fort Hood and more than 55,000 acres off post.

The First Team recorded another "first" for the modern Army by mounting up a platoon on motorcycles.  The Combat Support Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, would make history in the use of the motorcycles in the cavalry role by airmobile insertion of man and rider by helicopter.

On June 9, 1972, MASSTER's first Command Sergeant Major, Walter W. Krueger, left for reassignment to Korea.  He was inducted posthumously in the Operational Testers' Hall of Fame in 1997.

Since the Fall of 1972, MASSTER ran a major evaluation of camouflage, involving pattern painting vehicles and aircraft of the 2nd Armored Division's 2d "St. Lo" Brigade and the 1st Cav's 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry.  Comparisons of uniforms, nets, and other camouflage devices were also under study.

Using motorcycles in the reconnaissance role were not the only vehicles tested by MASSTER.  There was also the XR-311 "Dune Buggy" evaluated in 1973.  The 311 had a rear-mounted 318-cubic-inch Chrysler V-8 with a four-barrel Holly carburetor, four-wheel continuous drive, and automatic transmission.

In July 1973, M60A2 tanks began arriving at Fort Hood for testing with the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor, 2AD.  For the next year the A2 battalion went through side-by-side testing with an M60A1 battalion.

 FORSCOM TO TRADOC

A major change occurred on July 1, 1974, when MASSTER was transferred from Forces Command to TRADOC.  Shoulder sleeve insignia of military assigned to MASSTER changed from the III Corps to that of TRADOC.

The practice of "dual-hatting" the III Corps commander as Commanding General, MASSTER, with the Deputy Commander in charge of MASSTER ended.  Maj. Gen. Stewart C. Meyer became the first full Commander of MASSTER.

"The primary rationale was that TRADOC, which represents all of the Army's specialty schools and centers, should have its own test capability, particularly for what is called first development testing and experimentation," stated Dr. Virgil Hensen, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, at MASSTER.

1975 brought MASSTER back to its original purpose for activation as Project MASSTER in 1969.  In the six years since concentrating on unattended ground sensors, technology had made some significant advances, and MASSTER was back to sensor testing.  This time it was highly sophisticated electronic equipment that was being considered for monitoring the new Middle East peace agreement in the Sinai desert.

A significant and visible result of MASSTER testers' labors came with the activation in 1975 of the 6th Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat), the only one of its kind in the world.