Trevor Romain Foundation

Yuma, Arizona

Yuma, Arizona is home to two military installations: Marie Corps Air Station Yuma and the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground.

Originally built in 1928, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma has been in use for over 50 years and is home to the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1) and Marine Aircraft Group 13.  With 2.8 million acres for aviation training and year round flying weather, MCAS Yuma is the busiest air station in the Marine Corps.  The base is supported by over 4,000 military personnel with almost 7,000 family members.

Comprised of over 1,300 square miles, The U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground is one of the largest military installations in the world.  The proving ground includes a 40 mile artillery range, over 200 miles of road courses, mock villages and road networks, and a mine and demolition test facility.  The base is supported by over 1,700 active duty soldiers and civilian personnel, but the base is visited by over 20,000 personnel yearly for testing.

We were priviledged to speak with military children at three area schools: James D. Price Elementary, Palmcroft Elementary, and Ronald Reagan Elementary School.

Fort Campbell

Covering over 100 thousand acres, Fort Campbell is located in both Tennessee and Kentucky.  It has been an active Army post since 1941, with soldiers deploying from the post to serve in World War II, Vietnam, and currently in Afghanistan and Iraq.  and is currently the home of the 101st Airborne Division, also known as the “Screaming Eagles,” whose service during Wold War II was made famous by HBO’s Band of Brothers.

There are over 30,000 service members on post, and with almost 4,000 families call the post home.  There are seven schools on post.  Even more families live off post.  In the surrounding schools, military children represent a significant percentage of students, especially in the Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee areas.

During the With You All the Way USO Tour, we were able to speak with military children about dealing with deployment as well as bullying.

Fun Facts

Campbell Army Airfield is the Army’s largest airfield, covering 2,500 acres.  The airfield served as a secondary landing site for the National Aeronautics & Space Administration and the space shuttle.

The TV show “Coming Home” which spotlights service members who surprise their families and children in a unique way after returning home from a deployment, has mainly been filmed in Fort Campbell, KY.

The 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell was the first conventional unit to deploy in support of the American War on Terrorism.