Aberdeen Proving Grounds
| Aberdeen Proving Ground | |
|---|---|
| Part of US Army | |
| Aberdeen, Maryland | |
Aberdeen Proving Ground Historical Marker on US 40
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| Coordinates | 39°28′24″N 76°08′27″W / 39.473451°N 76.140837°W |
| Site information | |
| Owner | US Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1917 |
| In use | 1917–present |
| Garrison information | |
| Current commander |
Major General Randy S. Taylor |
Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG) (sometimes erroneously called Aberdeen Proving Grounds) is a United States Army facility located adjacent to 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, and 2,093 at the 2010 census.
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 materiel to take place near contemporary industrial and shipping centers. 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.
Although civilian contractors produced the major fraction of conventional munitions for World War I, the United States government built federally owned plants on Aberdeen Proving Ground for the manufacture of toxic gas. These poison gas manufacturing facilities came to be known as Edgewood Arsenal. Edgewood Arsenal included plants to manufacture mustard gas, chloropicrin and phosgene, and separate facilities to fill artillery shells with these chemicals. Production began in 1918, reached 2,756 tons per month, and totaled 10,817 tons of toxic gas manufactured at Edgewood Arsenal before the November 1918 armistice. Some of this gas was shipped overseas for use in French and British artillery shells.
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