| Barry M. Goldwater Range | |
|---|---|
| Part of Luke Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma | |
| Yuma County andMaricopa County,Arizona | |
 An A-10C drops a BDU-33 on the Barry M. Goldwater Range | |
 Barry M Goldwater Range Land Tenure Map | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Bombing range |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force United States Marine Corps |
| Location | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 32°27′45″N113°26′45″W / 32.4625°N 113.44583333333°W /32.4625; -113.44583333333  BMGR |
| Site history | |
| In use | 1941 – present |
TheBarry M. Goldwater Air Force Range orBarry M. Goldwater Range (BMGR), formerly known asLuke Air Force Range,[1] is abombing range in the U.S. state ofArizona, between theMexico–United States border andInterstate 8 straddling theCabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and theTohono Oʼodham Nation.
Established in 1941, the BMGR is primarily used forair-to-ground bombing practice byUnited States Air Force (USAF) pilots flyingA-10 Thunderbolts fromDavis–Monthan Air Force Base,F-16 Fighting Falcons andF-35 Lightning IIs fromLuke Air Force Base andTucson Air National Guard Base, andUnited States Marine Corps pilots andnaval flight officers inF/A-18 Hornets,AV-8B Harriers andF-35Bs flying fromMarine Corps Air Station Yuma.[citation needed] It is also used by other U.S. andNATO/Allied/Coalition flight crews while deployed to any of the aforementioned bases for training. According to a USAF spokesman, "The Barry M. Goldwater range is betweenPhoenix,Tucson andYuma... As you take that geography and look at the military in those three cities you have roughly 20 squadrons that use the range day in, day out as their backyard range. When you piece all of the airspace together, it’s actually bigger than the state ofConnecticut which makes it a real training treasure.”[2]
The entire range is approved for day and night operations with four controlled, manned, and electronically scored surface attack ranges that are available for training. There are three tactical ranges available spanning several hundred square miles each, and containing two full-size airfield mockups. The area includes theGila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field which serves as an emergency landing location for pilots and flight crews training on the ranges.[2]
The USAF operates the eastern portion of the BMGR while the U.S. Marine Corps operates the western portion.
The range was named after five-termU.S. Senator,Barry M. Goldwater from Arizona. Goldwater received a reserve commission in theU.S. Army Air Forces when the United States enteredWorld War II. Following the war, Goldwater was a leading proponent of creating theU.S. Air Force Academy. As acolonel, he also founded theArizona Air National Guard and eventually retired as a command pilot with the rank ofmajor general. By the end of his career, he had flown 165 different types of aircraft.[2]
The BMGR includes part of theYuma Desert andGila Mountains, almost all of theTinajas Altas Mountains and theLechuguilla Desert, all of theCopper Mountains, much of theMohawk Valley, part of theMohawk Mountains,San Cristobal Valley andGranite Mountains, most of theChilds Valley, and part of theGrowler Valley.
El Camino del Diablo, which historically connectedYuma, Arizona andSonoita, Mexico, runs through the BMGR.
Despite warning signs along its southern perimeter in English and Spanish stating that the BMGR is U.S. Government property, that it is an active military bombing range and that unauthorized entry is prohibited, the BMGR remains among the treacherous access areas southwest of Tucson for Mexican, Salvadoran, and other Central and South American migrants crossing into the United States without documentation, where many have perished.[3][4] Aid workers trying to save people from dying have signed up for annual passes to access the BMGR, including a waiver of liability for live bombing, but some workers have been banned and threatened with trespassing charges, citing property policy that requires everything packed in to also be brought out.[5]
In August 2018,The Marshall Project reported in an interview on theprogressive news programDemocracy Now! about the inability to deliver food, water, and other aid to migrants due to restrictions barring the access to the military area.[6] Freelance Mexican-American investigative reporter John Carlos Frey later toldDemocracy Now! that a team from the volunteer search-and-rescue group,Aguilas del Desierto (“Eagles of the Desert”) discovered a dozen bodies in a small area they were allowed to search for two weekends, but fear at least hundreds more have died there.[7] The United States Border Patrol deployed support beacons to request emergency assistance, also called "help stations", are shown scattered throughout the area on the accompanying map published by the Marines.
In 2020, crews were installing three-ton (2,700 kg), 30-foot (9.1 m) barrier panels along the BMGR's U.S.-Mexico border near Yuma, Arizona.[8] Executed by theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the barrier construction is in response to thePresidential National Emergency Declaration of 2019 requiring the use of theU.S. armed forces to help secure theU.S. southern border.[8]
The range is the setting for §4, Part 4, inDon DeLillo'sUnderworld (1997).[9]
In season 1, episode 3 ofThe Mosquito Coast on AppleTV, the Fox family and coyote Chuy cross the range to flee the US government and cross into Mexico.
The area where SCP-165 was found is near Goldwater Air Force Bombing Range[10]
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