Editing Aberdeen Proving Ground (section)

==History==
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[[File:Chemical Warfare Service - Plants - Edgewood Arsenal - Chemical plant built during the war - NARA - 26424414 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Chemical plant at Edgewood Arsenal, 1917]]
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]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://armyalliance.org/about-apg/history-of-apg/ |title=Army Alliance &#124; Aberdeen Proving Ground &#124; History of APG &#124; Army Alliance &#124; Aberdeen Proving Ground |access-date=April 3, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170429091304/http://armyalliance.org/about-apg/history-of-apg/ |archive-date=April 29, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/science/aberdeen-proving-ground-ORGOV000069-topic.html |title=Aberdeen Proving Ground |last=Sun |first=Baltimore |work=baltimoresun.com |access-date=May 3, 2017 |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527105150/http://www.baltimoresun.com/topic/science/aberdeen-proving-ground-ORGOV000069-topic.html |archive-date=May 27, 2017 }}</ref> The planning and construction were overseen by Brigadier General [[Colden Ruggles]], who later served as the Army's [[Chief of Ordnance of the United States Army|Chief of Ordnance]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/3335*.html |title=Colden L'H Ruggles in Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, Volumes III-VIII |last=Thayer |first=Bill |website=Bill Thayer's Web Site |publisher=Bill Thayer |location=Chicago, IL |date=May 5, 2015 |access-date=August 8, 2020 |ref={{sfnRef|"Biographical Register"}} |archive-date=November 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130013251/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Army/USMA/Cullums_Register/3335%2A.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Its location allowed design and testing of [[wikt:ordnance|ordnance]] [[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 [[billet]]ing space for 2,348 officers and 24,189 enlisted personnel.

A notable scientist was [[James B. Conant]], who helped develop [[Lewisite]] at Aberdeen, went on to become the President of Harvard, and oversaw the [[Manhattan Project]] for [[OSRD]].

===Prompt critical excursion===
Aberdeen was home to the Army Pulse Radiation Facility Reactor, in 1968. On September 6, 1968, this reactor was the site of a [[Prompt criticality|prompt critical excursion]] during commissioning tests. This accident harmed no personnel but did release enough heat to reach the melting point of the fuel in the core, 1150&nbsp;°C. This caused damage to the fuel components of the reactor, fusing the four central rings together. This is one of thirty-three prompt critical accidents worldwide, between 1949 and 2000.<ref>''[https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.csirc.net/docs/reports/la-13638.pdf A Review of Criticality Accidents]'', Los Alamos National Laboratory, LA-13638, May 2000. Thomas P. McLaughlin, Shean P. Monahan, Norman L. Pruvost, Vladimir V. Frolov, Boris G. Ryazanov, and Victor I. Sviridov.</ref>

===Base Realignment and Closure program===
Under the [[Base Realignment and Closure]] (BRAC) program, as announced in 2005, the APG is projected to lose the Ordnance School and associated R&D facilities with 3862 military and 290 civilian jobs moving to [[Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia|Fort Gregg-Adams]], Virginia. APG will gain 451 military and 5,661 civilian jobs from [[Fort Monmouth]], [[New Jersey]]. As a result, the net change is a loss of 3,411 military jobs and a gain of 5,371 civilian jobs.