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Major Defense installations
While there is large defense-related civilian employment around Tucson, Phoenix and Yuma much of the direct employment is linked to Arizona's major defense installations. These installations include:
- Yuma Proving Ground (Yuma)
- Marine Corps Air Station (Yuma)
- Davis-Morithan Air Force Base (Tucson)
- Fort Huachuca (Sierra Vista)
- Luke Air Force Base (Glendale)
Yuma Proving Ground
Yuma Proving Ground, one of the largest military installations in the world, is situated in western Yuma County and southwestern La Paz County 30 miles from the City of Yuma encompassing 1,307.8 square miles in the Sonoran Desert. YPG is used for testing military equipment, munitions and artillery systems in an area almost completely removed from urban encroachment and noise concerns. Yuma Proving Ground is the largest single employer of civilians (nearly 3000) in the county with a total economic impact in Yuma County of over $430 million annually.
Yuma Proving Ground features:
- Restricted airspace amounts of over 2,000 square miles.
- 24/7 Onsite and Offsite testing facilities and support staff
- The longest overland artillery range (40 miles) in the nation
- The most highly instrumented helicopter armament test range in the Department of Defense
- Over 200 miles of improved road courses for testing tracked and wheeled military vehicles
- Over 600 miles of fiber-optic cable linking test locations
- The most modern mine and demolitions test facility in the western hemisphere
- Six airfields servicing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft conducting personnel and cargo parachute drops
- One of the premiere test and evaluation sites for improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
Defense Contractor Complex
Yuma Airport's Defense Contractor Complex (DCC) located at Yuma International Airport is America's newest and most promising defense aviation park. Opened in January 2009, the 120 acre park, located at the Yuma International Airport targets and supports Defense Contractors from Boeing to General Electric. The Defense Contractor Complex provides a center for completing the secure and technological based activities required by contractors.
- $500m invested in new infrastructure to support the 2012 arrival of the F35B Stovl
- Four runways which range in size from 5,711' by 150' up to 13,300' by 200'
- 8 acre Defense Contractors Complex Apron
- 4 acre West VAL (visiting aircraft line)
- 12" thick concrete aprons and taxiways rated for 980,000 lb aircraft
- Controlled access — DoN Video Analytics Perimeter Security- Exceeds FAA Standards
- Foreign Trade Zone #219 - DCC is within the General Purpose Zone
- Facilities and 120 acre park immediately available for lease or purchase
- Clean desert air, low humidity, average 350 sunny days/year
- FBO services with government fuel contract, large aircraft support equipment
- Noise abatement procedures are built into the traffic patterns
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Embry Riddle - Yuma
Embry-Riddle accepts up to 90 semester credits from non-traditional credits towards a degree. The total credit requirement for a bachelor’s degree is 120 credits. Of the 120 credits, general education requirement is 36 credits, which can be completely earned
from AWC and transfer over. The tuition per credit for Active Duty student is $250, which matches with the maximum amount covered by the Tuition Assistance available for active duty students. Currently at MCAS Yuma, 1 student is enrolled in the Aviation Maintenance Technology Certificate course, 22 students enrolled in Bachelor’s degree programs, and 2 students are working towards Master’s degree programs through Embry-Riddle. Companies seeking to provide continuing education for their employees can utilize Embry Riddle’s extensive Aviation catalogue of courses for training in Yuma.
Aerospace and Defense Testing
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Wage Comparison (partial list) Aerospace and Defense Testing
Contractors Operating at Yuma Proving Ground and Marine Corps Air Station
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Maps
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
MCAS Yuma, located 2 miles from the city of Yuma, Arizona, is one of the Marine Corps' premier aviation training bases. It is also the busiest air station in the Marine Corps and the third busiest in the naval service. With access to 2.8 million acres of bombing and aviation training ranges and superb flying weather, MCAS Yuma supports 80 percent of the Corps' air-to-ground aviation training. With 4,249 military personnel and 1,877 civilian employees MCAS has a total economic impact in Yuma County of over $485 million annually.
On December 9, 2010, MCAS Yuma was selected by the Department of the Navy as the future home of approximately 20% of the Marine Corps F-35B Joint Strike Fighter squadrons. The basing decision placed 88 of the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) jets, making up five operational squadrons of 16 aircraft each and one operational test and evaluation squadron of eight aircraft, at MCAS Yuma. The squadrons will replace 56 AV-8B Harriers in Yuma's four existing squadrons
MCAS Yuma features:
- 10,000 Square Miles of Special-Use Airspace for Training
- 2,000 Square Miles for Aerial Bombing and Gunnery Range
- Largest Tactical Aviation Training Range in Marine Corps
- Shared Use Airfield with FAA certified Yuma International Airport
- Only Joint-Use Air Station in the Marine Corps
- 13,300 ft. & 11,000 ft. runways
General Motors Locates at YPG
The General Motors Desert Proving Ground - Yuma was officially opened at the proving ground in late July 2009. The new facility is a partnership between General Motors and the Army that allows Army automotive testers at the proving ground to test Army wheeled vehicles at the General Motors facility on a year-round basis. It is estimated that the track can be used to test about 80 percent of the Army's wheeled vehicle fleet.
An Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) process managed by the Army Corps of Engineers provided the means to establish the joint use hot weather test center. This process allows the Army to transfer non-excess land to private industry in exchange for long term benefits. To date, the Army Corps of Engineers oversees 55 active and proposed EUL projects at 56 installations around the country.
