From the air, it looks like an optical illusion: rows of tanks stretching toward the horizon, hundreds of armored vehicles arranged with geometric precision across the high desert floor. Sierra Army Depot sprawls across 36,000 buildable acres near Herlong, California, a place so remote and dry that even in 1942, when the Army built it, the primary qualification was that nobody would ever find it interesting enough to bomb.
The year was 1942. Japanese forces had attacked Pearl Harbor months earlier, and military planners were acutely aware of the West Coast's vulnerability. They needed ammunition storage facilities far enough inland to be safe from attack, yet close enough to ports and military posts to support rapid deployment. The northeastern California desert met every requirement: isolated, dry, and strategically positioned. Sierra Army Depot rose from the sagebrush as an ordnance and general supply storage facility. The isolation that made it safe during wartime would eventually make it the perfect place to put things the military needed to keep but did not need to use.
The depot has evolved into something the Army calls an End-of-First Life Center. More than 20,000 combat vehicles and pieces of equipment sit here in long-term storage, maintained by specialists who understand that 'mothballed' does not mean forgotten. M113 armored personnel carriers form lines that seem to stretch forever. M60 tanks stand in silent formation. In July 2020, the last M1 Abrams tanks departed from the Marine Corps base at Twentynine Palms and arrived here, part of the Marines' Force Design 2030 initiative to divest from heavy armor. The depot and Anniston Army Depot in Alabama now hold the entire Marine Corps tank inventory.
One of the depot's most unusual missions involves aircraft that no longer fly off production lines. Sierra Army Depot is the primary storage site for equipment used to build Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors. Over 30,000 fittings, jigs, and specialized tools related to F-22 production and maintenance are preserved here, carefully maintained for the aircraft still in service and for any future needs. It is a hedge against uncertainty: if something breaks on an F-22 and the original tool no longer exists anywhere else, it exists here. The depot's dry climate helps preserve tooling that might degrade elsewhere.
More than 1,000 structures cover the depot grounds. Igloos built into the earth store ammunition. Warehouses hold everything from body armor plates to uniforms. Maintenance buildings house the skilled workers who perform mechanical repairs, corrosion control, and metal fabrication. The depot processes retrograde materials returning from Southwest Asia, Europe, and military installations across the United States. It manages clothing and individual equipment for multiple agencies. It repairs defective ESAPI body armor plates at significant cost savings. The operation is certified in ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management and ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Standards.
Nine nautical miles north of Herlong, Amedee Army Airfield provides Sierra Army Depot with direct air access. The 10,000-foot runway can support military and commercial aircraft of all sizes. Combined with rail connections and truck access, the depot can respond to worldwide requirements within hours. During joint training operations, aircraft practice the logistics that would support actual deployments. The same isolation that protected the depot from Japanese attack in 1942 now provides space for exercises that would be impossible near populated areas. What was built as a hiding place for ammunition has become a staging ground for American military readiness.
Sierra Army Depot is located at 40.27N, 120.15W near Herlong in Lassen County, California. From altitude, the organized rows of stored vehicles are visible stretching across the desert floor. Amedee Army Airfield (KAHC) is on-site, 9 nautical miles north of Herlong, with a 10,000-foot runway. Note: this is a restricted military installation. Maintain appropriate distance and altitude. Best viewed from 8,000-10,000 feet AGL to appreciate the scale of vehicle storage while remaining clear of restricted airspace. Contact Reno Approach for guidance in the area.