U.S. Army Garrison Yuma Proving Ground

The Challenge

The Military Free Fall School (MFFS) needed permanent facilities and infrastructure to train more than 2,000 Special Operation Forces (SOF) students each year at Yuma Proving Ground (YPG). Students are recruited from elite organizations such as the U.S. Army Special Forces and Rangers, Navy SEALs, Marine Raiders, Air Force Para-Rescue and Combat Controllers, and foreign military partners. At the time, training, support, and aviation support were spread across 18 outdated buildings at the airfield and cantonment area, creating inefficiencies in training.

The Solution

Barge Design Solutions, working as part of the Barge emersion DESIGN Joint-Venture (BEJV) team and supported by Advanced Engineering Consultants (AEC), FireLogix Engineering, Crawford Consulting Services and Terracon, began executing three contracts in 2018 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Louisville District to design a 49,000-SF, $48 million two-bay maintenance hangar to hold two C-27J Spartan aircraft; a new $12 million Ready Building to house the students in training at YPG; and a new 150,000-SF, $52 million state-of-the-art "schoolhouse" Advanced Training Complex.

The Result

The new facilities will improve mission readiness by providing a more efficient and centralized training environment for MFFS students.