First-ever APG Demo Day draws large numbers

ABREDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md.— Approximately 7,000 people attended Team APG's first-ever “Proving It” Demonstration Day held on the grounds of Garrison Headquarters and the main front of the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center May 20, 2023. It was hosted by the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command.

The free event, held on Armed Forces Day, featured more than 30 exhibits with cutting-edge military technology and innovations. Participants were encouraged to ask Soldiers and civilians questions, take photos and videos, and share them on the APG Facebook and Instagram pages.

At noon, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (the Old Guard) Army Drill Team performed for attendees. Spc. Jordan Sanders, the team’s narrator, said the U.S. Army Drill Team aims for precision and excellence.

"The drill team represents today's Soldiers as well as yesterday's heroes who proudly fought in the Revolutionary War and continue to serve in all capacities," he said.

Sanders encouraged the audience to cheer as the Soldiers completed the demonstration.

"The total Army must be ready for today, modernized for tomorrow and strengthened by close relationships with our allies and partners," he said.

The performance concluded with a front-to-rear overhead rifle toss, the U.S. Army Drill Team's signature maneuver since 1958.

"This is an exercise in trust, as each member will have to put their safety in the hands of their brother's- in- arms," Sanders said.

After the performance, the Soldiers chatted with attendees and let them hold their rifles. Caroline Howard, 10, said she was impressed with the demonstration.

"They are very talented, and they have to put their lives in other people's hands, flipping around the gun," she said.

While the attendees were gathered, they witnessed a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter landing. Afterward, they could sit in the helicopter and talk to the pilots.

CW2 Ian Sinclair with the Maryland Air National Guard said this helicopter is versatile. Because of this, there are more Black Hawk helicopters than Apache and Chinook helicopters.

"I want people to see how this airframe supports the warfighter," he said.

Exhibits

Dr. Maria Gonzalez, an entomologist with the Defense Centers for Public Health-Aberdeen, said their exhibit featured several insects, including a bee colony, a Madagascar cockroach, and pictures of common pests like bed bugs. She told them the Soldiers wear uniforms that are treated with insecticide.

"The military cares about their Soldier's’ health, so one of the things we have to evaluate [is] if insects can give them diseases," she explained.

Stefan Williams, a chemical engineer with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Power Division, said their exhibit featured batteries and alternative energy power generation sources, like power generation through a kinetic backpack.

Williams showed attendees batteries in the small tactical universal battery, or STUB, family. The STUB family is a ground-breaking new series of standardized, rugged, lightweight, rechargeable batteries that reduces the warfighter's battery burden and logistical footprint caused by needing different types of platform-specific batteries.

"The biggest feedback that we got was the standardization of the battery is going to be a big benefit to the Army," he said.

Ian Laforge, a computer engineer with ATC's Survivability and Lethality Directorate, Ballistics Instrumentation Division, led a demonstration where attendees could hit an amorphous dummy with a baseball bat. Laforge explained that the amorphous dummy is similar to a crash test dummy. He said that this demonstration illustrates how the head responds to the movement from the impact and how a hit would equate to an injury.

Laforge said the unique activity drew long lines to the demonstration.

"We had something physical to get the children and their parents engaged,” he said.

 Live fire

About 4,000 people attended the live fire ticketed event at ATC, which was also live streamed on Facebook by the Defense Media Agency. The program opened with an A-10 aerial flyover conducted by the 175th Wing, a Maryland Air National Guard unit stationed at Martin State Airport in Middle River.

APG Senior Commander Maj. Gen. Robert Edmonson II welcomed attendees to APG, "where we prove it every day."

"We are excited to see the looks on your faces as you watch your Army in action," he said.

This was the first time a live fire was open to the public since 2017.

He said APG, established in 1917, is the oldest active proving ground in the United States. The live fire provides a "behind the curtain" look at the testing; attendees will "experience the sounds of freedom."

"We are still going strong," he said. "If the Soldier uses the weapon anywhere in the world, that weapon has been likely researched, developed, and tested right here in your backyard."

Narrator Wayne Strine, a division chief from ATC, said the first test round was fired on Jan. 2, 1918.

"In the last 105 years, over 500,000,000 rounds have been fired here; if you do the math, that's around 5,000,000 rounds a year, 96,000 per week, 2,400 per hour, or 40 per minute, so why don't we add to that 500,000,000-round total," he said, as the crowd cheered.

During the live fire, several vehicles were featured, including the M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank, equipped with a smooth bore 120mm cannon, which produced the loudest boom.

For the finale, a military family was selected to start the combined arms exercise, where all the systems engaged all targets all at once. 1st Lt. Stephanie McClain, with DCPH-A, surprised her husband Brian and their two daughters, Luci, 4, and Aurora, 7, during the ceremony by coming out from one of the vehicles. She was deployed more than nine months in Southwest Asia, she said, and was able to return home a little earlier than previously planned.

"I tried not to cry; this was a happy time," she said about reuniting with them during the ceremony.

McClain thanked her neighbors who provided support and served as an extended family while she was deployed.

"I had to opportunity to come home about 10 days early, which never happens; it is always later," McClain said a few days after the live fire. "[Because I came home early] I have had the opportunity to pick them up at school, help with their field days; the little things that some people take for granted."

To close the ceremony, ATC Commander Col. Timothy Matthews welcomed McClain home and said he hoped the live fire demonstration gave attendees a glimpse into what they do at ATC.

"We could not successfully complete our missions without our families and our friend's love and support," he said.

After the live fire, attendees viewed the static displays of military vehicles and exhibits.

John Orem, 10, said he is going to join the Army in eight years. He said he looks up to his relatives who also served.

“This is the best day of my life,” he said. “I was born do it [serve in the military].”

Lise Swanson, from Bel Air, said she took her family to Demo Day because her son is interested in military equipment.

“There was so much to see today,” she said. “The Black Hawk [helicopter] was a highlight.”

Military child Mason Phillips, 11, said he has always been interested in tanks.

"I have only seen tanks blow things up on TV," Phillips said. "But now that I experienced it first-hand, I feel like I have seen freedom."

U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command Public Affairs Officer Rebecca Nappi said the demonstrations at APG’s Proving It Demo Day showcased the extraordinary missions this workforce accomplishes to ready our Soldiers for the battlefields of today and tomorrow.

“Whether you hear APG’s testing of military weaponry from your home or always wondered what exactly your neighbor worked on within the installation, Demo Day was a chance to learn more about our installation and the people who work hard every single day behinds its gates,” she said.

For more photos, visit: First-ever APG Demo Day draws large numbers-May 20, 2023 | Flickr