U.S. Army reverses decision restricting Dugway Proving Ground's community outreach

DUGWAY — The U.S. Army reversed its decision to prevent both the Dugway Proving Ground and the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona from maintaining their own official social media accounts on Thursday.

The reversal follows a request from Sen. John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, and Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat from Arizona, for the U.S. Army to reconsider its official policy of preventing official social media accounts.

The original policy was put into place in June, when the U.S. Army issued Directive 2026-17, Optimizing Digital Media, which called for the closure of military social media pages outside a specified list.

A provision was included within the directive, authorizing an exception to the closure if operating a social media account demonstrated "a mission-critical imperative unmet by existing accounts or other means of communication (such as website post, email or direct engagement)."

Both Curtis and Kelly requested an exception for the Dugway Proving Ground and the Yuma Proving Ground on Oct. 29, warning that these restrictions on communication could undermine public safety, community relationships and efforts to attract private-sector testing partners.

Following the senators' request, the U.S. Army announced that the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona and the U.S. Army Test and Evaluation Command Headquarters in Maryland would be allowed to maintain their official social media accounts.

"In light of your request and a comprehensive re-evaluation of these unique requirements, the Department of the Army has reconsidered its previous position," the Army said about its decision to reverse course.

Curtis said he appreciated the U.S. Army's willingness to reconsider the policy, which would allow timely, reliable information to flow directly from the installation to the public.

"Dugway Proving Ground plays an important role in Utah's national security mission, and maintaining open communication with the surrounding community is essential," Curtis said.

Kelly agreed with Curtis, adding that he was glad the U.S. Army listened and made "this commonsense fix" impacting Utah, Arizona and Maryland.