Episodios

  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 34

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 34
    Jul 2 2025
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Gary Magrino, who while on active duty served as transportation officer for U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 1982 to 1985. He and his wife loved the Yuma community so much they stayed in town, where he became prominent in the local business community. He founded the Greater Yuma Port Authority and today serves as Business Development Officer for the Cocopah Tribe.
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    14 m
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 33

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 33
    Jun 4 2025
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Darin Meeks, who after retiring as an Army 1st Sgt. worked as a geodetics technician at Yuma Proving Ground from 2005 until his retirement in 2025. Raised in Yuma County and widely known in the community, for 13 years of his 22-year active-duty career he was an Army and Army National Guard recruiter in Yuma.
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    11 m
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 32

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 32
    May 7 2025
    Host Mark Schauer talks with New York native Ron Basolet. After a 26-year active-duty career in the United States Marine Corps, Basolet brought his decades of experience in logistics to U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground's Combat Automotive Systems Division in 2006, at the height of the surge in Iraq. He retired in 2020 after a combined 40 years of service.
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    11 m
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 31

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 31
    Apr 8 2025
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Sgt. Maj. (ret.) Ronald Rodriguez, the son of a career Army veteran who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. After a career as a Military Policeman, Rodriguez served for more than 20 years overseeing Yuma Proving Ground's Emergency Services and Emergency Management functions. He retired in March 2025 after a combined 46 years of service.
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    12 m
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 30

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 30
    Mar 12 2025
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Wayne Schilders, who grew up in Arkansas and enlisted in the National Guard during his junior year in high school. Joining the regular Army after graduation, Schilders trained in field artillery at Fort Sill and spent a year at Camp Stanley, South Korea before arriving at Yuma Proving Ground in 1982 at age 19. He was both Soldier of the Year and NCO of the Year while stationed here, then returned as a civilian employee at the conclusion of his second Army enlistment. An inductee into both the Honorable and Ancient Orders of St. Barabara that honor exceptional service in artillery, he retired as YPG's Armament Branch Chief in 2025.
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    14 m
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 29

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 29
    Dec 31 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Maria Johnson, a Navy veteran who was lead combat vehicle data collector at U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 1987 until medically retiring in 2013. She is today a resident of the Arizona State Veterans Home Yuma, where she was the first female resident.
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    4 m
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 28

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 28
    Nov 26 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Col. (ret.) Randy Murray, who was commander of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 2014 to 2017. An aviator, prior to his command he had served in the Army for 24 years in positions that included testing aviation systems for the U.S. Army Operational Test Command. He retired from active duty in 2019 and today serves as International Program Integrator for the Army’s Program Executive Office Missiles and Space.
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    10 m
  • Desert Rat Testament, Episode 27

    Desert Rat Testament, Episode 27
    Oct 30 2024
    Host Mark Schauer talks with Col. (ret) Stephen Kreider, who was commander of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground from 2003 to 2006. After a 28-year Army career, he served as Director of the Future Combat System Combined Test Organization and as the Army’s Program Executive Officer of Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors. A West Point graduate, in 2023 he was inducted into the Command, Control, Computers, Communications, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Hall of Fame.
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    12 m