Affirming the importance of the Electronic Proving Ground at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, to the United States Armed Forces and national security on its 60th anniversary.

Whereas Fort Huachuca is a product of the Indian Wars in the late 19th century in which Colonel August V. Kautz, commander of the Department of Arizona, ordered that a camp be established in the Huachuca Mountains in February 1877; Whereas in 1913, the first African-American unit, 10th Calvary Buffalo Soldiers Whereas the legacy of this famous unit was honored by naming Fort Huachuca’s testing range the Buffalo Soldier Electronic Testing Range; Whereas in the 1930s, the 25th Infantry Regiment replaced the 10th Calvary in Fort Huachuca and eventually sent up to 30,000 troops to fight in the European theater of World War II; Whereas in 1954, the Army’s Chief Signal Officer realized the incredibly unique environment located at Fort Huachuca for electronic and communications equipment testing and since then, the Electronic Proving Ground has tested many pieces of equipment that have enabled and strengthened our military in the past 60 years; Whereas Southern Arizona’s unique geography containing a bowl shaped valley enclosed by mountains more than 4,000 feet above sea level offers more than 9,000 square miles of land protected and free from outside electromagnetic interference which provides the best open-air electronic test range in the world; Whereas operations are routinely possible on the 70,000 acres and 964 square miles of the Electronic Proving Grounds due to FAA restricted airspace over this area; Whereas the Electronic Proving Ground is the Army’s premier C5ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) validation and developmental tester under the Army Test and Evaluation Command; Whereas the mission of the Electronic Proving Ground is to plan, conduct, and analyze the results of technical tests for C5ISR systems and Electronic Combat and Electronic Warfare equipment for the Department of Defense, other Federal agencies and private industry; Whereas the pristine electromagnetic spectrum around Fort Huachuca’s Electronic Proving Grounds provides the necessary environment for the development of a myriad of improvised explosive device-defeat technologies; and Whereas over the past decade of testing, Fort Huachuca and the Electronic Proving Ground have provided the Army indispensable expertise that resulted in technological advances that have saved the lives of countless United States warfighters: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives— (1) recognizes the threats that members of the United States Armed Forces face on the battlefield are changing and the enemy will present unique challenges that call for proven equipment tested at the Electronic Proving Ground; (2) recognizes and supports the missions and long term viability of Fort Huachuca and its Electronic Proving Ground; (3) expresses the importance of real world testing at open air ranges of electronic equipment in the Electronic Proving Ground; and (4) expresses strong appreciation to the soldiers and civilians, both past and present, for their 60 years of hard work and dedication at the Electronic Proving Ground and for their service to the United States.

Summary: Recognizes that members of the Armed Forces face changing battlefield threats and unique enemy challenges that call for proven equipment tested at the Electronic Proving Ground at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Supports the long term viability of Fort Huachuca and its Electronic Proving Ground. Expresses appreciation to soldiers and civilians for their 60 years of work at the Electronic Proving Ground and their service to the United States.