| Sierra Army Depot | |
|---|---|
| Herlong, California | |
Reserve Component Hospital Decrement for USAMMA |
|
| Type | Military Depot |
| Built | 1942 |
| Amedee Army Airfield | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: AHC – ICAO: KAHC | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Military | ||
| Operator | US Army | ||
| Location | Sierra Army Depot, CA | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 4,007 ft / 1,220 m | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| m | ft | ||
| 08 | 3,048 × 46 | 10,000 × 150 | Asphalt |
| 26 | 3,048 × 46 | 10,000 × 150 | Asphalt |
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration data for Amedee Army Airfield/AHC | |||
Sierra Army Depot is a United States Army post located near the unincorporated city of Herlong, California 55 miles (89 km) northwest of Reno, NV and 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Susanville, CA. Sierra Army Depot is in the highest desert plain east of the Sierra Nevada mountains at an elevation of 4,200 feet (1,300 m). The high desert plain is only sparsely developed.
The terrain is flat or gently rolling, dominated by sagebrush. The Honey Lake Valley is immediately east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The mountains form a barrier to storm systems moving eastward from the Pacific. Located in the rain shadow of the mountain range, the valley climate is arid, with low relative humidity and precipitation. Annual precipitation is low, averaging 5.6 inches (140 mm). Temperatures remain moderate in summer and winter.
The base is located in an arid area, adjacent to two railroad lines—the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, which merged in July 1995. There are 59 miles (95 km) of railroad track on the base. The main base covers 32,292 acres (130.68 km2) including 165 units of housing, 3 schools, credit union, barbershop, theater, chapel, and some administration buildings. The Amedee Army Airfield is also located within the boundaries of the base. The "industrial" portion of the base, which will be retained by the Army, includes several very large warehouses. The Army also owns a 4,030-acre (16.3 km2) parcel on a mountainside, which is separated from the main base by land owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is currently used for ammunition demolition. The base also includes the 60,000-acre (240 km2) Honey Lake, which at one time belonged to the State of California. The State retains reversionary rights to the property and the State Lands Commission, in a letter dated September 11, 1996, has agreed to accept the land following the successful completion of environmental restoration.
The area directly outside of the gate of Sierra Army Depot is the unincorporated community of Herlong. This is composed of several small businesses and West Patton Village, a 1950 Wherry housing project for SIAD employees. This contains 155 homes and several hundred residents.
Core customers include the Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, the United States Army Medical Materiel Agency, the Soldier Biological Chemical Command, the U.S. Army Field Support Command, and the Operations Support Command.
SIAD's high-desert location provides ideal conditions for storing Operational Project Stocks for extended periods of time. Pacific air that moves into the region loses most of its moisture before reaching the Honey Lake Valley, resulting in an average yearly high temperature of 66.9 degrees and a low of 36.4 degrees. Average yearly precipitation is 7.49 inches (190 mm), with an average yearly humidity of only 30.96. SIAD has ready access to all west coast ports. The Depot is connected by several all-weather highways, has an internal rail system linked with two transcontinental rail lines, and has a 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runway that accommodates up to C-5A aircraft.
Repair facilities located at SIAD include the management of the Inland Petroleum Distribution Systems; Water Support Systems; Force Provider; Army Field Feeding Systems; Large Area Maintenance Shelters; Landing Mat Sets; Bridging; and Reserve Component Hospital Decrement Associated Support Items of Equipment (non-medical). The activities at SIAD include receipt, storage, and care of supplies in storage, repair, assembly, disassembly, and shipment of major and secondary items for all systems.
SIAD also receives, issues, stores, renovates, and demilitarizes (destroys) ammunition. Since the decision of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 1995 to realign the Depot's ammunition functions, most operations involve the disposal of obsolete or outdated munitions. Three facilities are identified specifically for demilitarization of ammunition at SIAD. The deactivation furnace is an incinerator that can demilitarize small arms ammunition, primers, fuses, and boosters. The Depot has approval from the state of California to demilitarize up to 0.50 caliber rounds in the deactivation furnace. As such, two general purpose buildings are used to download and pull apart ammunition for demilitarization. They are equipped with intrusion detection systems and rapid response deluge systems for safety.
SIAD is licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to receive, store, issue, renovate, and demilitarize (disassemble) depleted uranium rounds. SIAD has the largest open burn/open detonation capacity in the United States. Fourteen pits, permitted by the state of California, can detonate up to 10,000 pounds net explosive weight per pit. The Depot's demilitarize grounds are also able to burn materials up to 100,000 pounds net explosive weight. The open detonation pits are also used to dispose of large rocket motors with a 160,000-pound net explosive weight capacity for the pit area. The large open-burn/open-detonation capability of the Depot provides the Department of Defense and government contractors with the ability to destroy large rocket motors at a lower cost than any other location. SIAD takes every step possible to be a good neighbor and operates under all local, state, and federal Environmental Protection Agency regulations to get the job done with minimal environmental impact.
The depot site was acquired in early 1942, and construction began immediately thereafter. Ammunition and combat equipment storage, administration, utility, and maintenance facilities were largely completed by early 1943 and the town of Herlong was constructed at the south end of the site between 1942 and 1944 to house depot personnel. By war's end, 1,021 of the installation's present 1,192 buildings had been constructed. Following the war, storage, special weapons, missile surveillance, and ammunition maintenance facilities were added, and the depot's obsolete housing and community facilities were either upgraded or demolished and replaced.
Prior to Army acquisition in 1942, the semi-desert site was virtually uninhabited and was used primarily as rangeland. In 1933, the Army purchased 60,523 acres (244.93 km2) at the Sierra site (which included Honey Lake), but did not proceed with construction due to a lack of funding.
Increased Congressional appropriations for defense brought about by the fall of France in 1940 led to the expansion of ammunition storage facilities across the United States. Initial plans called for placing depots in the four corners of the country to support forces repelling attacks from any direction. With increased ammunition production and implementation of the lend-lease program, the need for additional supply depots soon became apparent. Appropriations during the summer of 1941 made possible the construction of a major storage facility on the west coast. In February 1942, the Army leased 16,283 acres (65.89 km2) adjacent to the Honey Lake property. The expanded site met the Ordnance Department's basic criteria for the location of storage depots: it was a reasonably safe distance from the coast, thus lessening the danger of attack, yet was close enough to western military posts and ports to facilitate shipment of supplies; the area was sparsely settled, decreasing the chance of damage in the event of an ammunition explosion; the dry climate was ideal for ammunition storage; and major rail lines bordered the site on the north (Southern Pacific) and south (Western Pacific).
Work began immediately after lease of the site. The construction contract was awarded to Bressi-Brevanda and Teichert, who focused their immediate efforts on the erection of ammunition storage igloos, magazines, and administration facilities. These were largely completed, along with a housing area, by early 1943. Construction continued through the end of the year with the addition of a 72-bed hospital and the Amedee Airstrip at the northwest corner of the depot.
After the end of World War II, SIAD's mission expanded to include renovation and demilitarization of ammunition. SIAD also receives, issues, stores, renovates, and demilitarizes (destroys) ammunition. With the build up for the Korean War, SIAD's workload reached an all time high.
SIAD joined the efforts of a stockpile program, which regained its previous momentum expanding to the point of becoming a separate and independent organization. The General Services Administration (GSA) assigned the stockpile program to its newly created Emergency Procurement Service on 1 September 1950. This organization became the Defense Materials Service on 7 September 1956, with the responsibilities of managing not only the stockpile, but also the National Industrial Equipment Reserve Program, and the Civil Defense Emergency Program.
Between 1949 and 1988, the General Service Administration and Federal Emergency Management agency were responsible for the program. In 1988, the responsibility for the program was delegated to the Secretary of Defense who assigned the program to the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The Defense National Stockpile Center (DNSC) was established within DLA to manage the program.
During the 1970s and 1980s, SIAD was also used for the storage of unarmed nuclear weapons. These weapons and their storage and maintenance areas were protected by the 980th Military Police Company as a part of DARCOM.
In 1993, SIAD was designated as the Army's Center of Technical Excellence for Operational Project Stocks. SIAD is home to the three largest Operational Project Stocks in the Army: Inland Petroleum Distribution System, Water Support System, and Force Provider. In addition, SIAD is home for other Operational Project Stocks including: Deployable Medical Systems - Non-Medical Equipment, Army Field Feeding Systems, Large Area Maintenance Shelters, Landing Mat Sets, and Bridging.
In 2001, Sierra Army Depot ceased its mission to renovate and demilitarize ammunition using the Open Burning Open Detonation (OB/OD) process. The Army's Industrial Operation Command (IOC), which manages the Pentagon's demilitarization program, wants industry to propose recycling-based solutions. Due to cutbacks, two major ammo warehouses were shut along with Sierra Army Depot in Herlong, California, including Savanna Depot, Illinois; and Seneca Depot in Romulus, New York.
By 2001, there were only eight ammo storage facilities. That is half of what it was in 1990. Budgets notwithstanding, Army officials at the conference made it clear that the future of demilitarization is not with open burning open detonation but with recycling and recovery technologies.
In 2002, to deal with the maintenance backlog and to help its organic depots survive, the Army's Tank-automotive Armaments Command (TACOM) created the so-called Ground Systems Industrial Enterprise (GSIE). The GSIE is the corporate umbrella organization for six Army installations: Sierra Army Depot, California; Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois; Watervliet Arsenal, New York; Lima Army Tank Plant, Ohio; Anniston Army Depot, Alabama; and Red River Army Depot, Texas.