Aberdeen Proving Ground

Aberdeen Proving Ground is the U.S. Army's oldest active proving ground, established on October 20, 1917—six months after the U.S. entered World War I. The planning and construction were overseen by Brigadier General Colden Ruggles, who later served as the Army's Chief of Ordnance. Its location allowed for design and testing of ordnance materiel to take place near contemporary industrial and shipping centers. The proving ground was created as a successor to the Sandy Hook Proving Ground, which was too small for some of the larger weapons being tested. At the peak of World War II, the Aberdeen Proving Ground had billeting space for 24,189 enlisted personnel and 2,348 officers. A notable scientist was James B. Conant, who helped develop Lewisite at Aberdeen, went on to become the President of Harvard, and oversaw the Manhattan Project for the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD). Prompt critical excursion Aberdeen was home to the Army Pulse Radiation Facility Reactor. On September 6, 1968, this reactor was the site of a prompt critical excursion during commissioning tests. This accident harmed no personnel but did release enough heat to reach the melting point of the fuel in the core, at . This caused damage to the fuel components of the reactor, fusing the four central rings together. This is one of thirty-three prompt critical accidents worldwide, between 1949 and 2000. Base Realignment and Closure program Under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program, as announced in 2005, the APG was projected to lose the Ordnance School and associated R&D facilities, with 3,862 military and 290 civilian jobs moving to Fort Lee, Virginia. APG would gain 451 military and 5,661 civilian jobs from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. As a result, APG incurred a net-loss of 3,411 military jobs and gain of 5,371 civilian jobs. The U.S. Army Ordnance Corps Museum was previously located at APG, then moved to Fort Lee, Virginia, as a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Act. ==Edgewood Arsenal==

Although mostly civilian contractors produced conventional munitions during World War I, the United States government built federally owned plants on Aberdeen Proving Ground to manufacture toxic gas. These poison gas manufacturing facilities came to be known as Edgewood Arsenal, officially designated on May 4, 1918. The Edgewood area of Aberdeen Proving Ground is approximately or . The Edgewood area was used for the development and testing of chemical agent munitions. From 1917 to the present, the Edgewood area conducted chemical research programs, manufactured chemical agents, and tested, stored, and disposed of toxic materials. The Gunpowder Meetinghouse and Presbury Meetinghouse located within the grounds of Edgewood Arsenal are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Human experiments From 1955 to 1975, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps conducted classified medical studies at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland, intending to evaluate the impact of low-dose chemical warfare agents on military personnel, and test protective clothing and pharmaceuticals. About 7,000 soldiers took part in these experiments, involving exposures to more than 250 different chemicals, according to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). At the time, some volunteers exhibited symptoms of chemical agent exposure, but long-term follow-up was not planned as part of the DoD studies. The agents tested included chemical warfare agents and other related agents: Fort Hoyle Fort Hoyle was established on October 7, 1922, and was created from a portion of the Edgewood Arsenal. Named for Brigadier General Eli D. Hoyle, former commander of the 6th Field Artillery Regiment, the post was home to the following units: Headquarters, 1st Field Artillery Brigade (1922 to 1939), the 6th Field Artillery Regiment (1922 to 1940), the 1st Ammunition Train (1922 to 1930), and the 99th Field Artillery Regiment (minus 2nd Battalion) (1940 to 1941). Fort Hoyle was officially disestablished as a separate military post when it was reabsorbed by Edgewood Arsenal on September 10, 1940. ==Other locations of Aberdeen Proving Ground==

Other parts of APG not attached to the main installation include: the Churchville Test Area in Harford County, and the Carroll Island and Graces Quarters in Baltimore County, Maryland. Churchville Test Area The Churchville Test Area is a test track with hills that provide steep natural grades and tight turns to stress engines, drivetrains, and suspensions for army vehicles, including M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and Humvees. Carroll Island The eastern half of Carroll Island was used as a testing location for open air static testing of chemical weapons since the 1950s. During tests of chemical agents and other compounds at Carroll Island, Maryland, from July 1, 1964, to December 31, 1971, nearly of chemicals were disseminated on the test area including of irritants, of anticholinesterase compounds such as the nerve gasses Sarin and VX, and of incapacitants such as LSD. Simulant agents, incendiaries, decontaminating compounds, signaling and screening smokes, mustard, and herbicides were also released as well as riot control gasses. The test sites consisted of spray grids, a wind tunnel, test grids, and small buildings. ==Geography==

Aberdeen Proving Ground occupies a land area of 72,500 acres (equivalent to , or ). ==Demographics==

For statistical purposes the base is delineated as a census-designated place (Aberdeen Proving Ground CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau. As of the 2020 census, the resident population was 1,668. 2020 census 2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 3,116 people, 805 households, and 763 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 902 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 50.5% White, 34.6% African American, 0.6% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 1.3% Pacific Islander, 5.7% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races; 11.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 40.1% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 44.9% from 25 to 44, 4.4% from 45 to 64, and 0.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.6 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,875, and the median income for a family was $40,306. Males had a median income of $26,943 versus $26,194 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $12,808. About 4.2% of families and 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over. == Storage and demilitarization of chemical weapons ==

The Edgewood Chemical Activity (ECA) was a depot that stored chemical weapons on APG. Elimination of the depot's chemical materials was put on an accelerated schedule following the September 11 attacks. The depot's chemical weapons were destroyed by February 2006. ==Contamination==

The Edgewood area of the Aberdeen Proving Ground site was proposed to the Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List of the most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites requiring long term remedial action on April 10, 1985. The site was formally added to the National Priorities List on February 21, 1990. ==Controversies==

A scandal at the APG surfaced in 1996. The U.S. Army brought charges against twelve commissioned and non-commissioned male officers for sexual assault of female trainees under their command. Following campaigning by PETA, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and other organizations, the U.S. military announced in 2011 it was replacing its use of monkeys in the Army's nerve-agent attack training courses with human simulators and other non-animal teaching methods. The training drills had been carried out on vervet monkeys at Aberdeen Proving Ground. A Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) broke free from its mooring station at APG on October 28, 2015. It traveled for three hours through the skies, finally crashing in a wooded area in northeastern Pennsylvania. == Tenant units and activities ==

Operational units United States Army • 1st Area Medical Laboratory (1st AML) • 20th CBRNE Command • 203rd Military Intelligence Battalion Maryland Army National Guard • Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) • Aviation Depot Maintenance Roundout Unit (ADMRU) • 29th Combat Aviation Brigade (29th CAB) Institutional units United States Army • U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity (CMA) • U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) • DEVCOM C5ISR Center • DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center (CBC) • U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) • U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG) • U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense (USAMRICD) • U.S. Army Transformation Decision Analysis Center (TDAC) • U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) • U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) • U.S. Army Joint Test Element (JTE) • Capability Program Executive, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (CPE CBRND) • Capability Program Executive, Command and Control Information Network (CPE C2IN) • Capability Program Executive, Intelligence and Spectrum Warfare (CPE ISW) • Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA) • Kirk U.S. Army Health Clinic (named for Maj. Gen. Norman T. Kirk) United States Department of Defense • Defense Commissary Agency, Aberdeen (DECA-APG) • Defense Logistics Agency Land Aberdeen (DLA) • Defense Centers for Public Health-Aberdeen (DCPH-A) Source(s): ==See also==