U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground tests JECP tent in multiple natural environments

YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz. - For Soldiers deployed in a war zone, the natural environment can be as formidable an enemy as their human adversaries.

For example, the Arabian Peninsula, surrounded by a vast sea of sand, is frequently stricken by haboobs, massive tidal waves of intensely blowing sand that rise quickly, engulf miles of territory in dust, and mute sunlight into a hazy orange for as long as they last. In isolated areas, Soldiers' tents may be the only shelter available.

Additionally, if the theater Soldiers are operating in is contaminated by biological or chemical weapons, the integrity of their tents could be a matter of life or death.

The Joint Expeditionary Collective Protection (JECP) is a 32-foot long tent that can support command and control as well as rest and recuperation, and takes six people 90 minutes to set up in its operating configuration. All of the tents have liners that protect against toxic agents, and also come with air purification units to provide filtered air within the protective area. JECP is currently being tested at Yuma Test Center (YTC) and the Tropic Regions Test Center (TRTC), undergoing a multi-month evaluation that will test its mettle in a desert and tropical environment.

"Testing in the tropics is a continuous fight against environmental elements," said Carlos Mora, test engineer. "We encounter rain, fungi and fauna, lightning storms, and humidity, and the combination of some at the same time."

The high humidity and precipitation of tropical regions aren't the only factors that need to be considered when designing things for troops. High heat and a salt-rich atmosphere also contribute to rapidly-growing jungle molds and fungi. How will an item fare in acidic jungle mud, surrounded by insects that eat anything organic and seek warm areas to nest?

"As in any other test, it is our responsibility to address any issue that could affect the performance of the item during a mission or threaten a Soldier's safety," said Mora.

In a tropical environment, even a tiny failure of a seam that allows moisture in to the tent, something the testers keenly look for.

"We are taking measurements of all the equipment inside and outside the tent," said Mora. "It is supposed to be a tent that doesn't let anything in."

For the test, six personnel erected the two tents as a data collector observed the process, carefully noting any problems, from a lack of information in the tents' manual to potential safety hazards unique to a jungle environment, such as rapid dehydration of personnel from the relentless humidity as they exert themselves. One difference noticed between the test in the tropics and those at YTC was the ease of staking the tents: whereas the process took a concerted effort amidst rocky desert pavement, moist jungle soils yielded easily.

The tents will remain erected for six months without the system pressurized and one month fully pressurized at all hours, necessitating an electrical generator that is also subject to the harsh tropical environment.