Aberdeen Proving Ground

Aberdeen Proving Ground is an important part of Harford County and has been ever since it was established three-quarters of a century ago.Along with the former Edgewood Arsenal, now the Edgewood Area of APG, it has been the major employer and the biggest dynamo of the Harford economy, to the tune of 15,000 jobs and $435 million in estimated impact last year.But the Army post's primary mission from the beginning has been the testing of munitions, explosives and chemical weaponry. That is what the proving ground is designed for. So the 72,000-acre reservation straddling the Bush River presents a mixed blessing for residential communities.

Two lead organizations at Aberdeen Proving Ground will be changing their commands later this week. Maj. Gen. Robert S. Ferrell will take command of theU.S. ArmyCommunications-Electronics Command in a ceremony Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Myer Auditorium at the C4ISR Center of Excellence campus at APG. Then on Friday, theU.S. ArmyResearch, Development and Engineering Command will conduct a change of responsibility ceremony that will transfer the organization's leadership from a two-star general to an Army civilian executive.

About 65 Army support personnel, most from installations outside Maryland, were to arrive at Aberdeen Proving Ground last night and early today to prepare for duty in the Middle East.John Yaquiant, a proving ground spokesman, said officials were told yesterday morning to expect the logistics and maintenance personnel, all of whom are associated with the Army Materiel Command.As with recent missions to Haiti and Rwanda, the Harford County installation will provide medical exams, issue clothing and other equipment, and offer legal advice to the civilians and soldiers.

The phone at Helen Richick's house in Joppa never stops ringing.One caller wants to know if it is safe to buy a house near the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, one of the most polluted military bases in the country. A government official wants to talk about one of the dozens of waste-cleanup projects at the base. A scientist wants to discuss tests of fish and crabs for dangerous chemicals.For the past two years, this self-described "mom" has served as executive director of the Aberdeen Proving Ground Superfund Citizens Coalition.

July 1, 1971 could be seen as the official birthday of Aberdeen Proving Ground - the date on which the Edgewood Arsenal, the Army's former Chemical Center and the current chemical research and engineering center were merged into what's now known as APG, according to the U.S. Army Installation Management Agency's history of APG. "Although the mission functions remained separate entities, the real estate and base operations functions were joined together and...

West Nile virus has been found in mosquitoes collected at Aberdeen Proving Ground, preventive medical specialists on the base reported Friday. The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene sent pest control workers to apply insecticide in the area. The infected mosquitoes were trapped at one of 12 sites on the base, the Army said. Army officials said they would increase the number of trapping sites on the installation and would also increase surveillance of dead birds. Surveillance for West Nile virus at Aberdeen Proving Ground started in late April.

Paul S. Riley, a retired Aberdeen Proving Ground engineer and World War II fighter pilot, died Tuesday of a heart ailment at Charlestown retirement community in Catonsville. He was 81 and had lived in Bel Air. Until he retired in 1974, he was a research engineer at Aberdeen Proving Ground's ballistics research laboratory. Born In York, Pa., he attended York County public schools and Pennsylvania State University. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 and transferred to the U.S. Army Corps two years later.

Two Baltimore-based companies have started work on a $38 million contract to build an advanced chemistry laboratory in the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground, said Jeff Hinte, acting director for advanced planning and initiatives of the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center. The center has focused on research and development in the defense against chemical weapons since World War I. Gaudreau Inc., an architectural firm, and Poole & Kent, a mechanical contractor, are to complete the lab in two years.