For more than a year, the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) Garrison has been exploring the possibility of an agreement with local government agencies that would reduce costs for both parties.

This mechanism, called Intergovernmental Assistance Agreements (IGSA), has been used within the Department of the Army since it was first piloted in 1998.

Since then, well over 100 formal IGSAs have been approved across the Department of the Army. For example, at Fort Riley, Kansas, the garrison and local government share a contract to obtain salt and sand for treating icy roads in the winter, and the garrison stores both in unused buildings on the property. Allowed to be kept.

“Doing it jointly creates efficiencies and means the price is a little lower for both partners,” said YPG Garrison Manager Ken Musselwhite. “To make that happen, it has to be mutually beneficial.”

On January 4, Musselwhite and Yuma International Airport Director Gladys Brown conducted a facility and infrastructure construction and maintenance project between YPG Garrison and the Yuma County Airport Authority, with officials from both organizations looking on. signed the IGSA regarding

The process to reach the agreement took more than a year and culminated last month with approval by the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Facilities, Housing and Partnerships. Estimates suggest that the 10-year agreement could save the YPG garrison more than $800,000 annually.

“We are able to leverage local contractors and the relationships we have built over the years through federal and state projects,” Brown said. “This is definitely a good move not only for the Airport Authority but also for many local contractors.”

The agreement has the potential to save time in addition to money, but does not prevent the garrison from contracting with other entities for construction or maintenance.

“They are our go-to source of information,” said Ben Ricks, director of YPG's Office of Planning, Analysis and Integration. “We have multiple sources of information available to us. If there are better and cheaper sources, we will use them.”