Behind the Big
Guns – Yuma Proving Grounds tour began with an early check-in at the Yuma
Visitor Center. Next we boarded the tour
bus and after a 25 minute drive north of Yuma along US-95, we reached one of
the check-in gates to enter the military site.
The U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) is located near the
Arizona-California border, adjacent to the Colorado River, approximately 24
miles north of the city of Yuma, Arizona.
The first order of business was an orientation.
Our bus pulled into a parking lot in front of a large building which
housed an auditorium, a library, and a variety of other offices. We went into the auditorium and met the
public affairs officer who gave an interesting slide presentation on the
mission and history of the YPG. The YPG
is one of six U.S. Army Test and & Evaluation Command Centers in the
U.S. The site is over 1,300 sq.
miles. It is larger than the state of
Rhode Island. There are over 2,000 sq.
miles of restricted airspace. It is one
of four sites where the restricted airspace extends to space. White Sands
Missile Range, Cape Canaveral, and the White House are the other three. Commercial and civilian flights are routed
around the airspace.
We learned from the PA officer that Yuma has had a relationship with the army
from about 1850 when Fort Yuma was built on a hill overlooking the important
Yuma crossing of the Colorado River.
There was even a 1955 Technicolor movie named “Fort Yuma” starring Peter
Graves, Joan Vohs, and John Hudson.
In a typical year, over 500,000 artillery, mortar and missile rounds are fired,
36,000 parachute drops take place, 200,000 miles (320,000 km) are driven on
military vehicles, and over 4000 air sorties are flown from the proving
ground’s Laguna Army Airfield. Though about 90 percent of the proving ground's
workload is devoted to the test and evaluation of weapon systems and munitions,
training activities are important. Dozens of units visit the proving ground each
year for realistic desert training, especially before deploying overseas. Currently there are just over 2,400 personnel working
there. Only about 300 are military. The remainders are civilian and
contractors. It is a major economic
player in Yuma County, with an economic impact of over $400 million annually.
Yuma Proving Ground is the largest single employer of civilians in the county.
Of the four extreme natural environments recognized as
critical in the testing of military equipment, three fall under the management
authority of Yuma Proving Ground. Realistic natural environment testing ensures
that American military equipment performs as advertised, wherever deployed
around the world. The proving ground manages military equipment and munitions
testing at three locations: The Cold Regions Test Center at Fort Greely,
Alaska; the Tropic Regions Test Center operating in Panama, Honduras, Suriname,
and Hawaii; and at the Yuma Test Center located at Yuma Proving Ground.
We were taken to a building where a section of it had a
very high ceiling where parachutes could be suspended and methods are evaluated
for rigging equipment with parachutes so the equipment can be deployed from an
aircraft into a war zone. The previous
base commander had traveled with us to describe some of the thought that went
into the rigging and deployment of heavy equipment using an air drop. One thing I thought interesting is that the
equipment has to be very rapidly moved off the aircraft since the aircraft’s center
of gravity is affected which could result in an aircraft control issue. A drogue parachute is employed to quickly
pull the equipment out the rear of the aircraft and then one or more larger
parachutes are used to transit the equipment to the ground. In addition, the equipment is attached to a
flat aluminum base plate. Honeycombed
cardboard is used in layers between the equipment and the base plate to
cushion. Even very heavy equipment uses this
packing method. We saw several parachutists using steerable parachute systems. They are the ones that have a steerable wing
instead of a canopy. They allow for more
responsive handling and exceptional glide performance. I think this may allow the parachutist to
glide a considerable distance so that the air craft remains out of the
immediate war zone.
The previous base commander told us about being contacted and instructed that
former president George H. Bush would be the first United States president to
visit the Yuma Proving Grounds. He would
be accompanied by his wife Barbara, two friends, his personal physician and
members of his staff. This occurred in
late March of 1997. The then 72 year old
former president was to be trained and to make a parachute jump over YPG’s
Phillips Drop Zone. It seems that Bush
had made his first parachute jump September 2, 1944 when he had to bail out of
his flaming torpedo bomber near a Japanese held island. He spent 5 hours in the water before being
picked up by the USS Finback, a submarine searching for downed fliers in the
area.
Bush and his party arrived on the afternoon of Monday, March 24 at the YPG’s
Laguna Army Airfield and he began his training.
The base commander thought, “but what do we do with Mrs. Bush?” It was decided to take her and the other
members of the party on a tour of the Colorado River. She found the ride enjoyable, as the weather
was pleasant, the scenery was relaxing and stories of the history of the area
were entertaining.
In the evening, President and Mrs. Bush attended a formal dinner at the proving
ground’s Cactus Café. Invitees included
people from both Yuma and YPG. Over 60
diners attended. Bush was highly
complementary of both the proving ground and his dinner company.
The following morning, Bush resumed his training and completed his successful
parachute jump shortly before noon. He jumped from an elevation of 12,500 feet
and opened his parachute canopy at 4,400 feet.
Eight other jumpers accompanied him.
Media representatives from throughout the nation were present, including all
the major television networks, the New York Times, Associated Press and
others. Senator Kyl of Arizona provided
a live report of Bush’s jump to a Phoenix radio station over his cell phone.
Before leaving YPG for his return home to Houston, Texas, Mr. Bush addressed
members of the YPG workforce, greeted soldiers assigned to the base and who had
served in the Persian Gulf War. He said
that he doesn’t miss the political world which had been so important throughout
much of his life, but he does miss the military.
Many activities and people came together to play critical planning roles in
ensuring that the visit progressed flawlessly.
From the Morale, Welfare and Recreation people at the community café to
the proving grounds force of security guards, the visit and parachute jump was
a success all around.
At the end of the tour, we visited the Heritage
Center. It should be noted that before
the grounds became the Yuma Proving Grounds, it was first established in 1942
when the grounds were used as a training site during World War II. The first troops arrived at the
California-Arizona Maneuver Area (CAMA) on April 11, 1942. This area became known as “The Patton
Training Center” in recognition of General George S. Patton Jr.
During a period of two years more than a million American soldiers from at
least 400 military units of every size, type, mission and description were
trained in the art of desert warfare.
Yuma proving ground (YPG) is part of the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command
and is a multiple purpose test facility.
I wish to cite Wikipedia for some of the wording and
figures and the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground “The Outpost” newspaper for the
article about former president Bush. I
could not have remembered all that the previous commander told us. The bottom line; it was
a great tour being both informative as well as interesting. I
recommend it.
