The Yuma Proving Ground is located in southwestern Arizona and is one of the largest military installations in the world. The proving ground covers 1,307 square miles and is used for testing military equipment in the Sonoran Desert. Nearly every weapon type is tested at the proving ground, and the restricted airspace above the facility includes 2,000 square miles. Yuma Proving Ground is the county’s largest single employer of civilians. The proving ground fires 500,000 artillery, mortar and missile rounds and does 36,000 parachute drops. Military vehicles are driven over 200,000 miles. The proving ground’s workload is devoted to the test and evaluation of weapons systems and munitions. Yuma Proving Ground has the longest overland artillery range in the nation and the most highly instrumented helicopter armament test range in the DoD. The proving ground was originally constructed in 1850 as an overlook of the Yuma crossing of the Colorado River.

Weather in the Yuma Proving Ground area tends to be very hot in the summer with temperatures in the 90s and mild in the winter with the temperatures in the 60s. Annual rainfall in the area is 3 inches with the wettest month being August. July is the warmest month, and December is the coldest. Local housing options are available nearby in cities such as Yuma, Blythe, and Welton. Yuma Proving Ground is becoming the Department of Defense’s premiere test and evaluation for improvised explosive devices, also known as IEDs. IEDs are the number one killer of American service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.