U.S. Army Yuma Test Center (YTC) Commander Lt. Col. Shane Dering served as keynote speaker at the 28th annual Camp Bouse Commemoration Ceremony in the La Paz County town of Bouse on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024.
The modern-day mission of YPG has a direct lineage with the Soldiers of the 'Greatest Generation' 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.
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.
“I’m proud that the work done at Yuma Test Center today is at the forefront of current Army transformation efforts,” said Dering. “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.”
Social Sharing