A few months after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army picked a site near Sidney to provide additional storage for ammunition. The decision was based on Sidney’s dry climate and its location: near a major rail line and central enough to allow easy shipping to both coasts. The mission of the Sidney Ordnance Depot later named Sioux Army Depot was to receive, store, and issue all types of ammunition and military supplies. It operated continuously for the next 25 years, serving the U.S. during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.The depot occupied 19,771 acres and included 801 ammunition storage igloos, 22 general supply warehouses, 392 support buildings, 225 family living quarters, 51 miles of railroad tracks, and 203 miles of roads. It employed between 625 and 2,161 civilian employees, who worked alongside a small number of Army personnel.
The Sioux army depot was important to the World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War in that they delivered all over the country the war materials that where needed. Sioux Army Depot's mission during its entire history was the receipt, storage, and issue of all types of ammunition from small arms to 10,000 pound bombs, all types of general supplies from small automobile parts to jeeps, and various strategic and critical materials
L.T Col James D. Peterson Aug. 17, 1950 – July 13, 1952
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