The mission of the  General Hoyt S. Vandenberg was to serve in the Atlantic Missile Range (AMR), headquartered at the Air Force Missile Test Center at Patrick Air Force Base, Cape Canaveral, Florida. These documents were supplied by AFMTC and provide details about the operations and the ships involved.

The General Hoyt S. Vandenberg was one of two Advanced Range Instrumentation Ships (ARIS) built during the cold war to track missile tests and participate in the space program.

The Air Force Missile Test Center (AFMTC) is part of the Air Force Systems Command which was formed in 1961 to give special attention to Aerospace Weapons systems.