Camp Navajo was originally opened in 1942 in Bellemont, Arizona. It was originally designated Navajo Ordnance Depot, and its primary use was the storage of ammunition used in the Pacific Theater of World War II. It was renamed Navajo Army Depot in 1965, changed to Navajo Depot Activity in 1982, and then changed in 1993 to its current name. In 1993 the Department of Defense transferred all ammunition activities to Hawthorne Army Ammunition Plant in Nevada. Following the transfer, Camp Navajo remained federal land under the Department of the Army, overseen by the Arizona Army National Guard. The Ordnance Operations and Industrial Park are managed by the Arizona Department of Emergency of Military Affairs (AZDEMA), and the military training mission remains managed by the Arizona Army National Guard. All authority is given through the Department of Defense Army Corps of Engineers regarding engineering, design, and construction management processes for potential DoD and DoD type customers.
Camp Navajo is an industrial park, munitions storage facility, and regional training site overseen by the Arizona Army National Guard, and managed by the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs.
Units located on base include:
Camp Navajo is also an active munitions storage site, and industrial park, supporting numerous civilian and military customers. The camp is an inspectable site under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
Camp Navajo is also the location for one of four Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemeteries.[1] Over 300 gravesites are on the property.
Thirty-eight miles of railroad track were built as part of the original Navajo Ordinance Depot.[2] As the facility evolved into Camp Navajo, the Arizona Army National Guard took over operation of the tracks, to speeds up to ten miles an hour, as the Camp Navajo Railroad.[2] [3] The line has a junction with the nearby BNSF Railway.[4] [5]