Desert Rat Testament

Host Mark Schauer talks with Minerva Peters, whose Department of the Army career began in 1985. After 15 years working as an operations research analyst with the Army’s Operational Test and Evaluation Command, she began working at Yuma Proving Ground in 2000. Attracting attention for her work on test programs for the Crusader self-propelled howitzer and Stryker combat vehicle, in 2006 she was made head of a newly established process improvement office. She became YPG’s Chief of Staff in 2015, the position she retired from in March 2024.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Mike Kingston, who served as a test photographer at U.S. Army Cold Regions Test Center as a soldier during the Vietnam era and as a civilian from 1989 to 2014. A former wildland firefighter well known as a volunteer firefighter in Delta Junction, Alaska, in his retirement Kingston was recently recognized as the community's volunteer of the year for his work on behalf of the local Meals on Wheels program.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Jonna Pittman, who retired as U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground's Logistics Manager in 2024. Prior to starting her civilian career here in 2007, she served in the Army from 1977 to 2007, retiring as a Sergeant Major.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Command Sgt. Maj. (ret.) Forbes Daniels. Born in Guyana, he immigrated to the United States as a teenager and enlisted in the Army in 1981. His tenure as Yuma Proving Ground’s Command Sergeant Major from 2008 to 2012 was bookended by multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He retired from active duty in 2017 and today works in a civilian capacity at the Army’s Fort Eisenhower.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Alan Tinseth, a nuclear engineer who worked at Yuma Proving Ground as a test officer and in the Technology and Investments Directorate from 1984 until his retirement in 2022. The son of a wounded veteran of the Korean War's Battle of Chosin Reservoir, in 1989 he was a test officer on a self-propelled howitzer evaluation for a foreign customer that saw a fatal accident.

Host Ana Henderson talks with John Curry, an Arkansas native who worked at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground as a software developer and operations research and systems analyst from 1991 until his retirement in 2022. He supported testing for the Warfighter from the Gulf War through the Global War on Terror.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Yolanda Canales, who worked in U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground's public affairs office from 1984 until her retirement in 2016. A Yuma native, Canales was editor of "The Outpost," the proving ground's twice-monthly official newspaper that has published continuously since 1951. During her tenure "The Outpost" was named Best Small Army Newspaper in 1998, and Canales herself was YPG's employee of the quarter multiple times. She still lives in Yuma with husband German.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Dean Weingarten, who served as YPG’s chief meteorologist from 1989 until his retirement in 2013. A former Army officer raised in Wisconsin, Weingarten also served as a meteorologist at then-Camp Hunter Liggett while in uniform and in Panama as an Army civilian. He holds degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and is an avid outdoorsman and frequently published writer.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Command Sgt. Maj. (ret.) Jamathon Nelson. Born at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, he initially followed in his father’s footsteps as a Marine Corps infantryman, enlisting in 1985. He worked for a time as a logger following his Marine enlistment, then served in the Army National Guard before joining the Regular Army in 1995. His final post in a decorated Army career was as Yuma Proving Ground’s Command Sergeant Major from April 9, 2018 to November 19, 2020. He and his wife Martha stayed in Yuma following their respective retirements from active duty.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Col. Patrick McFall, a Tennessee native and infantry officer who served in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan prior to his command of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from July 8, 2020 to June 29, 2023. An active and beloved figure in the broader Yuma community during his time in command, his wife Heidi was also renowned for volunteer service with such organizations as the Yuma County Humane Society.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Col. Ross Poppenberger (ret.), who was born in Minnesota and raised in Arizona. His final post in a distinguished Army career that saw him deployed twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan was as commander of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 2017 to 2020. Following his retirement from active duty he stayed in Yuma, where today he is Chief Financial Officer at Arizona Western College and volunteers as a board member for the ‘Yuma 50’ military support group.

Host Ana Henderson chats with Anne Fisher, who worked at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 1986 to 2022, spending the bulk of her career with the Department of Public Works and Mission Safety Office. Long active in the Yuma community, Fisher is a former District Governor in Rotary International.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Bill Heidner, who was born in Illinois and raised in Wisconsin. After a career serving in the Army as a Non-Commissioned Officer from 1976 to 1997, he worked as a civilian in Army museums at Fort Polk and Fort Irwin before serving as curator of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground’s Heritage Center from 2004 to 2022. A well-known figure in Yuma, he was also an adjunct professor of graphic design at Arizona Western College from 2007 to 2019.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Lt. Col. Michelle Stoleson (ret), who was born in Florida and hailed from an active duty Air Force family. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from California’s Harvey Mudd College and a master’s degree in engineering from Claremont Graduate University, and received her Army commission in 1981. Prior to serving as the first female commander of Yuma Test Center between 2000 and 2003, she was an aviation test officer at the proving ground from 1991 to 1995. After concluding her active duty career in 2004, she served as an executive for the proving ground’s largest private contractor until retiring in 2018.

Host Ana Henderson talks with Chuck Crawford, who lived on post at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground as a child prior to his career as a security guard and range control specialist. Hear how YPG's range controllers help keep developmental tests of military equipment safe, as well as how the workers' technology changed over the years. Crawford also shares what he misses most about working at the proving ground.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Chuck Wullenjohn, a native of Sunnyvale, California and Coast Guard veteran who served as Yuma Proving Ground's Public Affairs Officer from 1989 to 2018. A well-known figure in Yuma, he was also an adjunct professor of government and U.S. Constitution classes at Arizona Western College from 1991 to 2018 and served on the Yuma County Library Board of Trustees for eight years.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Chief Warrant Officer 4 (ret.) Stan Gourley, who grew up in New Jersey and served in Vietnam. After 20 years in uniform, he worked 26 years in federal service, ultimately serving at Yuma Proving Ground from 1991 to 2008 and retiring as airfield manager. In retirement, he serves on the board of directors of the Yuma County Aviation Authority, as a Yuma County Juvenile Court hearing officer, and as project leader for Yuma County 4-H shooting sports.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Col. Robert Filbey (ret.), who was born in Champaign, Illinois and had a distinguished career as an Army officer culminating in command of Yuma Proving Ground from 1996 to 2000. Following his retirement, he and his wife Nancy stayed in Yuma, volunteering countless hours to organizations including the Assistance League of Yuma, the Salvation Army, Hospice of Yuma, the Caballeros de Yuma, the Yuma Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, and the Yuma Military Affairs Council. Filbey was inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame in 2016.

Host Mark Schauer talks with David Horn, who grew up in Minnesota, earned a degree in mechanical engineering, and worked in private industry prior to working in the Combat Automotive Division at Yuma Proving Ground beginning in 1985. After 12 years at the proving ground Horn returned to private industry for a decade, but resumed his YPG career in 2007 with the National Counterterrorism Counterinsurgency Integrated Test and Evaluation Center (NACCITEC). He was branch chief of YPG’s Electronic Warfare Branch for three years, then returned to combat vehicle testing until his retirement in 2019.

Host Mark Schauer talks with Julio Dominguez, who grew up in New Mexico and was a Marine Corps Non-Commissioned Officer and underground mining engineer prior to his career at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG). Starting as a test officer in the Munitions and Weapons Division in 1985, Dominguez was YPG Technical Director, the proving ground's highest- ranking civilian, from 2009 until his retirement in 2018.