Aberdeen Proving Ground
(APG) is a United States Army
facility located near Aberdeen
, Maryland
, (in
Harford
County
). Part of the facility is a
census-designated place (CDP), which
had a population of 3,116 at the
2000 census.
History
APG 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. Its location allowed design and
testing of
ordnance materiel to take place near contemporary industrial
and shipping centers. The first gun was fired there on January 2,
1918. 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, APG had
billeting space for 2,348 officers and 24,189
enlisted personnel.
Other components
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. 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,
M2/M3 Bradley Fighting
Vehicles, and
High Mobility
Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles.
Edgewood Chemical
Activity is a
chemical-weapon
depot located at APG. Elimination of the
chemicals held here was put on an accelerated schedule after the
September 11, 2001, attacks,
and all chemical weapons were destroyed by February 2006.
The
U.S. Army Ordnance Corps
Museum is located at APG.
Geography
APG is located at and occupies a land area of . Its northernmost
point is near the mouth of the
Susquehanna River, where the river enters
the
Chesapeake Bay, while on the
south, it is bordered by the
Gunpowder
River. The installation lies on two
peninsulas separated by the
Bush River. The northeastern is known
as the
Aberdeen Area and the southwestern is called the
Edgewood Area (formerly the
Edgewood
Arsenal).
According to the
U.S.
Census Bureau, the CDP
has a total area of 31.0 km² (12.0 mi²). 29.4 km² (11.4 mi²) of it
is land and 1.6 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (5.09%) is water.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 3,116
people, 805 households, and 763 families residing in the CDP. The
population density was 274.1
people per square mile (105.8/km²). There were 902 housing units at
an average density of 79.3/sq mi (30.6/km²). The racial makeup
of the CDP was 50.48%
White,
34.60%
African American, 0.64%
Native American, 3.11%
Asian, 1.25%
Pacific Islander, 5.68% from
other races, and 4.24%
from two or more races; 11.20% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 805 households out of which 78.0% have children under
the age of 18 living with them, 84.1% were
married couples living together, 8.0% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 5.2% were non-families;
4.3% of all households were made up of individuals and none had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 3.52 and the average family size was 3.63.
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.
Under the
Base Realignment and
Closure (BRAC) program, as announced in 2005, the APG is
projected to lose the Ordnance School and associated R&D
facilities with 3862 military and 290 civilian jobs moving to
Fort
Lee
, Virginia
.
APG will
gain 451 military and 5,661 civilian jobs from Fort Monmouth
, New
Jersey
. There is a net loss of 3,411 military jobs
under BRAC and a net gain of 5,371 civilian jobs.
Enhanced-use lease
In 2005, APG executed an
enhanced-use
lease (EUL)
partnership with Opus
East, L.L.C. (a subsidiary of
Opus
Corporation), a
commercial
real-estate development
company. Under the EUL, Opus East has entered into a long-term
ground lease of APG-owned property
for the development of commercial
office
space and
research-and-development space.
Ground-lease payments benefit APG directly in the form of
in-kind services that can be used to
maintain/improve post
infrastructure,
build new buildings, build new roads, etc. The EUL will provide new
high-quality buildings and facilities for the military and civilian
positions relocating to APG because of the 2005 round of the BRAC
process. The development of the EUL, known as
The GATE project, comprises , eleven land bays, and
two- to three-million square feet of development potential and is
entirely within the boundaries of APG. The GATE is being developed
to meet
anti-terrorism and
force-protection standards and will
include
sustainable-design
elements. It also allows
private military contractors (PMC)
doing work for various
military
commands on APG to be closer to their client and not be
burdened with continual entry to APG. The first building at The
GATE will be delivered to
CACI, an
information-technology security PMC in 2008. The complete development of
the entire project will span five to ten years.
Controversies
A
scandal at the APG surfaced in
1996, wherein the U.S. Army brought charges against twelve
commissioned and
non-commissioned male officers for
sexual assault on female trainees
under their command.
See also
References
Further reading
- Oliveros, James P. and Don A. Vroblesky. (1989).
Hydrogeology of the Canal Creek area, Aberdeen Proving Ground,
Maryland [Water-Resources Investigations Report 89-4021 }.
Towson, Md.: U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological
Survey.
- Olsen, Lisa D. and Tracey A. Spencer (2000). Assessment of
volatile organic compounds in surface water at West Branch Canal
Creek, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 1999 [Open-File
Report 00-203]. Baltimore, Md.: U.S. Department of the Interior,
U.S. Geological Survey.
- United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Armed Services.
(1997). Army sexual harassment incidents at Aberdeen Proving
Ground and sexual harassment policies within the Department of
Defense: hearing before the Committee on Armed Services, United
States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, first session, February
4, 1997. Washington, D.C. Government Printing Office.
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