 On September 30, 1963 the U.S. Army Advanced Research Projects Agency DAMP mission and contract expired, and the U.S. Air Force assumed operational control of the USAS American Mariner.On January 1, 1964, it became an integral, but temporary, part of the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Test Range in the Atlantic Ocean, and was placed under the control of the Missile Test Project (MTP) based out of Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.