Yuma Proving Ground
Part of US Army Test and Evaluation Command
La Paz County and Yuma County, Arizona Near Yuma, Arizona
Yuma Proving Ground logo
Site information
Type	Military proving ground
Owner	United States
Controlled by	United States Army
Website	https://home.army.mil/yuma/
Location
Coordinates	33°01′04″N114°15′11″W / 33.0178°N 114.253°W /33.0178; -114.253 YPG
Site history
Built	1943
In use	1950 – present
Garrison information
Current commander	COL John Nelson[1]
Occupants	U.S. Army Garrison, YPG Medical Department Activity, YPG Yuma Test Center Tropic Regions Test Center—conducted in various locations but managed out of YPG Arctic Regions Test Center—located at Fort Greely, AK but subordinate to YPG Airborne Test Force Military Free-Fall School—conducted by theJohn F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School Special OperationsTerminal Attack Controllers Course—conducted by the24th Special Operations Wing Test Measurement and Diagnostic Equipment Support Laboratory Tethered Aerostat Radar System—operated byU.S. Customs and Border Protection[1]

YumaProving Ground (YPG) is aUnited States Army series ofenvironmentally specific test centers with its Yuma Test Center (YTC) being one of the largestmilitary installations in the world. It is subordinate to theU.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command.

YPG's headquarters is located at its YTC in southwesternLa Paz County and westernYuma County in southwestArizona, United States, approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of the city ofYuma.^[2] Facilities are located at the Colonel George W. Howard Cantonment Area (support facilities), the GeneralWalton H. Walker Cantonment Area (headquarters facilities), and the Kofa Cantonment Area (range facilities).^[3]

Of the four extreme natural environments recognized as critical in the testing of military equipment, three fall under the management authority of YPG. Realistic natural environment testing ensures that American military equipment performs as advertised, wherever deployed around the world. YPG manages military equipment and munitions testing at three locations: The Arctic Regions Test Center atFort Greely, Alaska;^[4] the Tropic Regions Test Center operating inPanama,Honduras,Suriname, andHawaii;^[5] and at YTC.^[1] The common link between these test centers is "environmental testing," which makes the proving ground the Army's environmental test expert.

Official YPG overview video (4:52)

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Official YPG history video (9:31)

The presence of the U.S. Army in Yuma goes back to 1850, whenFort Yuma was constructed on a hill overlooking the important Yuma crossing of theColorado River. Soldiers at Fort Yuma maintained peace and protected the importantYuma Crossing, which was used by thousands of travelers each year.^[6]

The Army constructed a second facility in 1865, theYuma Quartermaster Depot, to act as a supply base for Army posts throughout Arizona and parts of New Mexico. Supplies were delivered by riverboats and transported from the depot to military outposts by wagon. After Fort Yuma and the Yuma Quartermaster Depot closed in the 1880s, the Army did not return to Yuma on a permanent basis untilWorld War II.^[6]

Yuma Proving Ground traces its history toCamp Laguna and the Army Corps of Engineers Yuma Test Branch, both activated in 1943. Located on the Colorado River, theYuma Test Branch conducted testing oncombat bridges,amphibious vehicles, and boats. Tens of thousands of mechanized and infantry soldiers were trained atCamp Laguna for duty at combat fronts throughout the world, fromNorth Africa to theSouth Pacific. Abandoned campsites and tank trails can still be found on the proving ground.^[6]

Camp Laguna lasted only until the end of World War II. The Yuma Test Branch was closed in 1949 and reactivated two years later as the Yuma Test Station, under the operational control of theSixth U.S. Army. In 1962, the station was named Yuma Proving Ground and reassigned to theU.S. Army Materiel Command as an important component of the Test and Evaluation Command. On 26 July 1973, it officially received its full name – U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground. The following year it was designated as aDepartment of Defense Major Range and Test Facility Base.^[6]

Since its early days, Yuma Proving Ground has been a desert environmental test center for all types of military equipment and materiel. However, developmental and a variety of other types of testing of artillery systems and ammunition, aircraft armament and targeting systems, mobility equipment, and air delivery systems, not necessarily desert environmental-related, now comprise the bulk of the workload. A heavy investment in technology and a highly skilled soldier-civilian workforce makes the proving ground a significant social and economic component of the local community.^[6]

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YTC encompasses 1,307.8 square miles (3,387.2 km²) of the northwesternSonoran Desert^[2] and conducts tests on nearly every weapon in the ground combatarsenal. Nearly all the long-range artillery testing for U.S. ground forces takes place at the YTC in an area almost completely removed from urban encroachment and noise concerns.Restricted airspace controlled by the test center amounts to over 2,000 square miles (5,000 km²). YTC has the longest overland artillery range (40 miles or 64 kilometres) in the nation, the most highly instrumentedhelicopter armament test range in theDepartment of Defense, over 200 miles (300 km) ofimproved road courses for testing tracked and wheeled military vehicles, over 600 miles (1,000 km) offiber-optic cable linking test locations, and the most modern mine anddemolitions test facility in the western hemisphere. Realistic villages and road networks representing urban areas in Southwest Asia have been constructed and are used for testing counter-measures to the threat of roadside bombs. It is estimated that the track can be used to test about 80 percent of the Army'swheeled vehicle fleet.

More than 3,000 people, mostly civilians, work at YTC, which is the largest employer in Yuma County.^{[citation needed]}

In a typical year, over 500,000 artillery,mortar andmissile rounds are fired, 36,000parachute drops take place, 200,000 miles (320,000 km) are driven on military vehicles, and over 4,000 air sorties are flown from YTC'sLaguna Army Airfield.

About 10 percent of the YTC's workload is training. In a typical year, dozens of units come to the facility for realistic desert training, especially before deploying overseas.

YTC's clean air, low humidity, skimpyrainfall – only about 3 inches (76 mm) per year – and annual average of 350 sunny days, add up to almost perfect testing and training conditions. Urban encroachment and noise concerns are nonexistent problems, unlike at many other military installations.

YTC testsimprovised explosive devices, commonly known as IEDs, the number-one killer of American service men and women inIraq andAfghanistan. Hundreds ofunmanned aerial vehicles fly at the proving ground each year from the six airfields located at YTC, as do helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft conducting personnel andcargo parachute drops.

Many friendly foreign nations also visit YTC to conduct test programs.^[7]

TheGeneral Motors Desert Proving Ground – Yuma opened at YTC in late July 2009. General Motors built the facility at a cost of more than $100 million after closing its desert automotive test facility in Mesa, Arizona, that had been in operation since 1953. The new facility allows General Motors and Army automotive testers to test their wheeled vehicles all year-round.

YTC offers the following for testing, evaluation, and training purposes:

• Ground weapons systems from small arms to long range artillery
• Helicopter armament and target acquisition systems
• Artillery andtank munitions
• Cargo and personnel parachutes, including guided systems technologies
• Land mines and mine-removal systems
• Tracked and wheeled vehicles in a desert environment
• Vibration and interference-free tests ofsmart weapon systems
• Laguna Army Airfield complex, featuring two runways – 6,000 feet (1,800 m) and 5,150 feet (1,570 m).
• 12 drop zones and multipleairstrips for Unmanned Aerial Systems
• A 55-mile (89 km) overland artillery range, the longest in the nation
• Over 200 miles (300 km) of improved road courses for tracked and wheeled vehicles
• State-of-the-artfiber optics systems to acquire, reduce and transmit data in real time
• Specialized facilities for testing countermeasures for the defeat of roadside bombs, such as theNational Counterterrorism/Counterinsurgency Integrated Test and Evaluation site

Examples of the various tests and activities conducted at YTC

• 
  YTC's Ground Combat Systems test-fires aM109A6 self-propelled howitzer at a YTC artillery range.
• 
  ARoyal Danish ArmyPiranha Vinfantry fighting vehicle conducts testing at YTC'swater fording pit.
• 
  AM1126 infantry carrier vehicle conducting desert mobility testing at YTC
• 
  AnM1 main battle tank climbs a 60° incline, part of performance testing at YTC.
• 
  Roadsideimprovised explosive device countermesture testing at YTC
• 
  AnAH-64D attack helicopter conductsAGM-179 air-to-surface missile live-fire test on Cibola Range at YTC.
• 
  TheMilitary Free-Fall School'sMSG George A Bannar Wind Tunnel at YTC is the world's largest, supporting eight simultaneous jumpers.^[8]
• 
  NASA'sOrion Spacecraft Capsule Parachute Assembly System testing at YTC
• 
  Marines prepare to breach a building during a mock helicopter raid at YTC, part ofU.S. Marine Corps Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course.
• 
  German soldiers test new assault rifles at YTC.
• 
  AnMQ-9B unmanned aerial vehicle used the Laguna Army Airfield at YTC to achieve a 48.2 hour endurance record and firstFAA certification of an unmanned aircraft to fly in civilian air space.^[9]
• 
  U.S. Customs and Border Protection'stethered aerostat radar system at YTC

Examples of testing at various Tropic Regions Test Centers (TRTCs)

• 
  An M1126 infantry carrier vehicle undergoes tropical environment testing at a TRTC site in Hawaii.
• 
  Material corrosion testing at TRTC's Breakwater Exposure Site inCentral America
• 
  Joint Expeditionary Collective Protection tent testing at a TRTC site, after being tested at YTC
• 
  Soldiers evaluate the performance ofMOPP 4 gear at a TRTC site in Hawaii.

Examples of various testing at the Arctic Regions Test Center (ARTC)

• 
  AnM1128 mobile gun system undergoes cold weather live-fire testing at ARTC.
• 
  A small unit support vehicle undergoes testing on ARTC's Mobility Test Track.
• 
  A robotic vehicle undergoes mobility testing on a bump course at ARTC.
• 
  Soldiers test a new modular body armor system in the extreme cold at ARTC.

Yuma Proving Ground
Census-designated place
Interactive map of Yuma Proving Ground
Coordinates:32°51′55″N114°26′13″W / 32.86528°N 114.43694°W /32.86528; -114.43694
Country	United States
State	Arizona
County	Yuma
Population  (2020)
• Total	313
Time zone	UTC-7 (MST (noDST))

Yuma Proving Ground is acensus-designated place (CDP) covering the population of the HowardCantonment atYuma Proving Ground inYuma County,Arizona.^[10][11]

It first appeared as a CDP in the 2020 Census with a population of 313.^[12]

Yuma Proving Ground is served by theYuma Elementary School District and theYuma Union High School District.^[15] Yuma Elementary School District operates Price Elementary School on base.^[16] Ron Watson Middle School is the zoned middle school.^[17]Gila Ridge High School is the zoned high school.^[18]

• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. AZ-5, "Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, Yuma County, AZ", 39 data pages

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33°01′04″N114°15′09″W / 33.01778°N 114.25250°W /33.01778; -114.25250

• Buildings and structures in La Paz County, Arizona
• Buildings and structures in Yuma County, Arizona
• United States Army posts
• Military installations in Arizona
• Proving grounds
• 1943 establishments in Arizona
• Historic American Engineering Record in Arizona
• Military installations established in 1943

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