U.S. Senators John Curtis (R-UT) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) announced that the U.S. Army is reversing its decision to prevent the Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) and Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) from maintaining their own official social media accounts. The decision comes after Curtis and Kelly urged the Army to reconsider its policy, warning that restrictions could undermine public safety communications, community relationships, and efforts to attract private-sector testing partners. In its response, the Army acknowledged the unique needs of proving grounds and is allowing DPG, YPG, and U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) Headquarters to maintain official social media accounts.
“Dugway Proving Ground plays an important role in Utah’s national security mission, and maintaining open communication with the surrounding community is essential,” said Senator Curtis. “I appreciate the Army’s willingness to reconsider this policy and recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t always work. This is a welcome decision that will help ensure Utahns continue to receive timely, reliable information directly from the installation.”
“Yuma Proving Ground does critical work for our national security, and its strong relationships with the local community and businesses are a big part of that,” said Senator Kelly. “This decision will help the testing facility keep the community informed, build partnerships, and better support our military. I’m glad the Army listened and made this commonsense fix.”
Background:
In June 2026, the Army issued Directive 2026-17, Optimizing Digital Media, restricting official social media accounts across the service. DPG and YPG were initially denied exceptions that would have allowed them to continue communicating directly from their social media accounts. This resulted in additional steps that risked delay and YPG relying on communication from Army accounts higher in the command structure to communicate with the local community.
On October 29, Curtis and Kelly urged the Army to reconsider the restrictions, warning that they could undermine public safety communications, community relationships, and partnerships with private industry. The senators highlighted the Army’s recent designation of DPG under its Domestic Permissive Test Range Expansion initiative, which aims to expand commercial access to Army ranges for testing unmanned aircraft systems, counter-drone technologies, long-range fires, and low-cost interceptors.
The Army recognized that testing facilities like DPG rely on direct communication with local communities and private industry to support their missions, particularly as the Army expands opportunities for commercial testing of new military technologies.
“In light of your request and a comprehensive re-evaluation of these unique requirements, the Department of the Army has reconsidered its previous position. I am pleased to inform you that we are approving Exceptions to Policy (ETPs) to authorize official social media accounts for U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) Headquarters, Yuma Proving Ground (YPG), and Dugway Proving Ground (DPG),” the Army said about its decision to reverse course.
