The
Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (
BMDO) was an agency of the
United States Department of Defense that began on 20 May 1974 with the responsibility for all U.S.
ballistic missile defense efforts. It evolved from the SAFEGUARD System Organization. The original mission of BMDO was comparable to that of SAFEGUARD, which was to defend U.S. ballistic missile sites, but BMDO additionally had the more general role of conducting research and development in advanced ballistic missile defense (BMD) technology and also managed what was then called the
Kwajalein Missile Range (KMR). In July 1984, BMDO became a part of the
Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) and one year later BMDO was renamed the U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command.