Yuma Test Branch veteran recalls service during U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground visit

YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz.-- U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground as we know it today has operated continuously since 1951 with the mission of testing virtually every piece of equipment in the ground combat arsenal.

In the 1940s it constituted part of Gen. George Patton's Desert Maneuver Area, a massive swath of the Southwest utilized to realistically train Soldiers for combat in North Africa.

Even during that time, however, a portion of the range was used for testing: in a desilting basin below Imperial Dam, just down the road from modern day YPG, prefabricated portable bridges were evaluated, with testers altering the flow of water from the mighty dam as necessary.

Recently, Milton "Dub" Banning, who served at Yuma Test Branch from 1946 to 1949, returned to visit the remnants of the camp with wife Libby and two friends. The dam is still there, but little else from that long ago camp, though the concrete pad that served as the foundation for his wood frame and tarpaper barracks still stands on the desert floor, the edges overgrown with scrub.

"When I first came here there were only two barracks, but they had some more later," he recalled as he stood on the exact spot his cot stood. "I didn't ever think I'd get back here. It kind of brings a tear."

The cataclysm of World War II completely altered the world's social landscape, killing tens of millions and impacting hundreds of millions more. Millions of American men became eligible for conscription, but Banning, a teenager from Fort Smith, Arkansas, assumed he would not be able to serve in uniform--his draft board had rated him 4-F, unfit for service due to deafness in one ear. Still wanting to do his part, he left home to work in a defense plant.

"I went to Kansas City to work for North American Aviation building the B-25 bomber," Banning recalled. "When I quit that defense job, 30 days later they sent me a notice--they had non-combat duty for people with just one disability."

He still has his yellowed, but well-preserved draft notice, dated January 17, 1945. He reported for induction at 5:30 AM on the 26th, and soon found himself undergoing training in Illinois and at Virginia's Fort A.P. Hill. The war ended in August, but Banning's service continued at Fort Churchill in frigid Manitoba and at Fort Belvoir, before he got orders to rural Arizona and Yuma Test Station. It was 1946, and his arrival in Yuma in the middle of the night was not auspicious.

"I walked into the train depot to eat, and there was nothing but seats there. I thought 'they know I'm coming, why don't they have somebody here to meet me?' Like I was the president or something."

He spent the night at the Del Sol Hotel, then a bustling resting point across from the city's train depot, and made it to the isolated test station at the foot of Imperial Dam the next morning.

"When I got here, I reported to the sergeant in charge of the motor pool. He looked at me and asked, 'have you ever run a crane?' Thirty minutes after that, I was an experienced crane operator."

The crane's manufacturer was Lorain, and the company's name was printed in big bold letters along its boom. Banning spent enough time with it to lovingly refer to it by its proper name. Despite this lightheartedness, the daily mission was serious business.

"We started off with the Bailey Bridge. It was on floats: We'd build a section on land, and I'd pick up that section and set it down to where they could join it up and keep pushing until we crossed the river. We had a great time."

Even under controlled test conditions, it was dangerous work, particularly for the tankers assigned to drive across the bridges under evaluation.

"We had two M4 tanks that registered about 32 tons each. After we made sure it could hold the trucks up, we had a brave guy that would take a tank and creep out. His orders were, 'If you feel any slipping, put it in reverse and back off.'"

As crane operator, Banning's played a critical role in the completion of the testing, and is proud there were never any accidents during his tour.

"It was very interesting to be a part of that. I won't say I didn't have a few nightmares, but it was a great duty building those bridges. We were very fortunate."

Banning happened to be at Yuma Test Station when enormous social changes were taking place in the Army and society.

"Back then, you had to stay in uniform when you went to town. If you were recognized in civilian clothes, you would be court martialed. I think President Truman changed it."

More significantly, Banning recalls when Yuma Test Station was integrated by an executive order from then-President Truman in 1948. The test station's first three African-American Soldiers were quartered in the far corner of one of the barracks and mostly shunned by their white counterparts.

"Those men were very isolated. I didn't think we had that kind of discrimination, but we had a bad case."

Banning's service at Yuma Test Station came to an end when a mishap with the flow of water caused the desilting basin's concrete to crack. He was sent back to Fort Belvoir, and heard about a reconstituted Yuma Test Station being re-opened prior to deploying to Korea. He never returned to Yuma while in uniform, however, and didn't re-enlist after his service in Korea as a mechanic. He left the Army in May 1954, with medals including the World War II Victory Medal and the Korean Service Medal with three bronze service stars.

Back in the civilian world, Banning and his family settled in California. He went to work for the post office and retired as postmaster of Coulterville, California in 1986. The 90 year old reared in the Great Depression and tested in two major wars is grateful to have lived in interesting times.

"The time that I have lived in has seen a great, great change, not only in our government but in the whole world. I think I have lived in about the best time any man would want to see."