Episodes

  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 29

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 29
    Dec 31 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Maria Johnson, a Navy veteran who was lead combat vehicle data collector at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 1987 until medically retiring in 2013. She is today a resident of the Arizona State Veterans Home Yuma, where she was the first female resident.
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    4 mins
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 28

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 28
    Nov 26 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Col. (ret.) Randy Murray, who was commander of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 2014 to 2017. An aviator, prior to his command he had served in the Army for 24 years in positions that included testing aviation systems for the U.S. Army Operational Test Command. He retired from active duty in 2019 and today serves as International Program Integrator for the Army’s Program Executive Office Missiles and Space.
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    10 mins
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 27

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 27
    Oct 30 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Col. (ret) Stephen Kreider, who was commander of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 2003 to 2006. After a 28-year Army career, he served as Director of the Future Combat System Combined Test Organization and as the Army’s Program Executive Officer of Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors. A West Point graduate, in 2023 he was inducted into the Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Hall of Fame.
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    12 mins
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 26

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 26
    Sep 26 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Col. (ret) John Bullington, who was commander of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 2006 to 2009. After a 32-year Army career, he served as Assistant Director of the Arizona Game and Fish Department for nine years before retiring to Arkansas.
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    15 mins
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 25

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 25
    Aug 27 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks by phone with Col. (ret) Reed Young, who served as commander of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 2011 to 2014, which included the busiest test workload year in the post's history. Today, Young is the Program Manager for Robotics and Autonomy at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
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    16 mins
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 24

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 24
    Jul 30 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Teri Womack, who from 1986 to 2019 worked in a variety of positions at Yuma Proving Ground, from an administrative assistant at the Systems Test Branch to her final post as a marketing specialist working in the public affairs office. She was the primary escort on years of public bus tours of the proving ground done in conjunction with the Yuma Visitor’s Bureau.
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    10 mins
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 23

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 23
    Jun 27 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Maj. (ret) James Branch, whose 22 years in the Army included serving at the Military Freefall School at Yuma Proving Ground from 2011 to 2013, first as executive officer, then as commander. Today he is the Senior Army Instructor for Yuma County, Arizona's first Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program.
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    17 mins
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 22

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 22
    May 29 2024
    Host Ana Henderson talks with Peter Efroymson, who worked at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) as a firefighter and 911 emergency dispatcher from 1993 to 2024. Hear as he recounts his contributions and memories about his time responding to emergencies in and around YPG.
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    20 mins