Following an active community presence that started days after coming into their positions, the uniformed senior leaders of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) have participated in multiple local events in the new year.

From ceremonies commemorating the service of Soldiers of the past to public talks about the proving ground’s current day mission, YPG’s command team has been visible in the local community this year.

“I believe that relationships between an installation and the community are very important, especially when your workforce lives in that community,” said Col. John Nelson, YPG commander. “It is very beneficial for leadership to understand how Yuma supports Yuma Proving Ground and its workforce, as well as identifying ways YPG can support the community.”

On January 13, Nelson spoke at a ceremony commemorating the U.S. Army of the West Mormon Battalion’s 1847 crossing of the Colorado River. The annual ceremony at Yuma’s West Wetlands Park honors the Soldiers of the battalion, who were the first Army presence in what later became Yuma. YPG Command Sgt. Maj. Mark Millare also attended. Following six months of grueling privation across difficult terrain, the battalion’s primary and most lasting contribution to American history was the founding and successful navigation of an all-weather southern route to California capable of sustaining wagon traffic.

On February 10, U.S. Army Yuma Test Center (YTC) Commander Lt. Col. Shane Dering served as keynote speaker at the 28th annual Camp Bouse Days Commemoration Ceremony in the La Paz County town of Bouse. YPG is the last active Army installation within the World War II-era California-Arizona Desert Maneuver Area, of which Camp Bouse was a part. The modern-day mission of YPG has a direct lineage with the Soldiers of the 1940s who tested the Canal Defense Light, a 13 million candlepower arc searchlight mounted in the turret of an M3 tank at Camp Bouse during World War II. The system was never fielded, but at the time the project constituted the second-most secret Army program after the Manhattan Project.

“I’m proud that the work done at Yuma Test Center today is at the forefront of current Army transformation efforts,” said Dering in remarks at the ceremony. “The cutting-edge artillery, combat vehicles, and unmanned aircraft we test at Yuma Test Center today will ensure our Army retains overmatch against any aggressor nation in the world to keep our nation secure far into the future. It is an effort that I feel is in keeping with the spirit of each generation of Soldiers that has served—from those of ‘The Greatest Generation’ who saved the world during World War II, to all that served in the following decades.”

Three days later, Millare interacted with the Yuma community with a presentation at the Foothills Branch of the Yuma County Library, where he discussed the proving ground’s position at the forefront of Army modernization efforts and sterling safety and environmental stewardship records before fielding questions from the audience.

“Any opportunity to tell the Army story is something I look forward to,” said Millare. “An opportunity to do that is always worth my time.”