3 Feb 2018
LaPosa South BLM
Yuma Proving Grounds,AZ
The YPG is 75 years old and the Army is celebrating! We left our desert home in the “Q” about 0845 for a short 60 mile drive south on Hwy 95 towards Yuma. As we approached the right turn for the final five mile stretch, we were greeted with hundreds of vehicles going to the same place… So it took about an hour for the last five miles. About 3000 civilians are employed at the YPG, so YPG is very important to Yuma.
Yuma Proving Grounds is a military testing area for new technologies. It is one of the largest military installations in the world at 1,400 square miles located in the northwestern Sonoran Desert. Yep, lots of desert.
It began in 1943 as the Special Bridge Test Section to assist in the development of floating bridges by testing them in the swiftly flowing Colorado River. The bridge tests were also used to train engineering troops in using the finalized bridges in the European theatre of WWII.
In 1944, due to lack of man power, the testing was carried out by volunteer Italian Prisoner of War troops. I bet they had some good pizza for dinner! Near the end of the war testing was also done on placing roads across rice paddies in preparation for invading Japan.
Tens of thousands of mechanized and infantry soldiers were trained here at Camp Laguna for duty at combat fronts throughout the world, from North Africa to the South Pacific. Camp Laguna lasted only until the end of World War II.
The General Motors Desert Proving Ground opened at YPG in 2009. Costing over $100 million, General Motors built the facility after closing its desert automotive test facility in Mesa, Arizona, that had been in operation since 1953. The new facility is a partnership between General Motors and the Army that allows Army automotive testers at the proving ground to test Army wheeled vehicles at the General Motors facility on a year-round basis. It is estimated that the track can be used to test about 80 percent of the Army’s wheeled vehicle fleet.
Alot of kool stuff got tested here over the years….. when YPG was testing GPS in the 1970’s the original GPS receiver (think of your phone) just barely fit into the cargo by of a UH-60 helicopter!
There was a recent test for parachute deployment for the NASA Orion project that is planned to take humans to Mars. A mock space capsule weighing 22300 pounds was loaded onto a C17 cargo plane, and dropped it at 25000 feet down to earth. Don’t know the outcome….About 90 percent of YPG tests and evaluations focus on weapon systems and munitions.
We found a shady place to sit, (not many trees in the desert), grabbed a beer and some lunch while we listened to the bands perform on stage. It was a beautiful sunny day about 85 degrees with a slight breeze. Perfect !
There were many exhibits in the Base Museum, one of which was below…….this room among other exhibits resulted in a great deal of reflection and remembering our brave Military and the many people who lost their lives…..and just how much our world has changed.
The two ladies below are from the Manhattan Dolls who were performing patriotic music on stage. They are awesome and easy on the eyes, more so then the mine sweeping Stryker vehicle they were posing in front of !
Not quite a “portable” printer.
Delores thought it was funny after she snuck up on me and scared me half to death.
Remember this phone?
How about this “mini” swichboard used for base communciations there at YPG.
And you thought “Oshkosh” just made clothes. This Oshkosh is a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV).
In this day and age of active shooters, security was tight all around the field and this officer was ready if needed to be. Not sure why the “deer” was on the lookout too.
A few classic cars were on display, off particular note, check out that red Pony Car!
Another awesome sunset here.
Odd to us, is that there are many hummingbirds out here in the desert. Lucky for them we still have our feeder.
We went back to our piece of the desert after a great day !