Tobyhanna Army Depot Tobyhanna Army Depot , is a logistics center for the United States Department of Defense ( DoD ) , specializing in electronic systems and located in Coolbaugh Township , Monroe County , near Tobyhanna , Pennsylvania . Established Feb . 1 , 1953 as Tobyhanna Signal Depot , today it is a facility for the repair , upgrade and integration of Command , Control , Computer , Communications , Intelligence , Surveillance and Reconnaissance ( C4ISR ) systems for all branches of the Armed Forces . Current activities . The depot ’ s mission is total sustainment , including design , manufacture , repair and overhaul , of hundreds of electronic systems . They include satellite terminals , radio and radar systems , telephones , electro - optics , night vision and anti - intrusion devices , airborne surveillance equipment , navigational instruments , electronic warfare , and guidance and control systems for tactical missiles . Tobyhanna is DoD ’ s recognized leader in the areas of automated test equipment , systems integration and downsizing of electronics systems . The Army has designated Tobyhanna as its " Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for C4ISR and Electronics , Avionics , and Missile Guidance and Control " . The Air Force has designated Tobyhanna as its " Technical Source of Repair for command , control , communications and intelligence systems " . Tobyhanna has gained new missions and workload in each of the five rounds of Defense Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC ) between 1988 - 2005 . The depot also is the largest employer in northeastern Pennsylvania , with more than 5 , 000 personnel working at the installation . The depot ’ s regional economic impact approaches $ 2 billion annually . The depot also operates 30 Forward Repair Activities at major U . S . installations and overseas , including in Southwest Asia . In 2005 , President George W . Bush delivered his Veterans Day address at Tobyhanna Army Depot , commending the installation as a “ facility that has provided critical services for our armed forces ” and applauded the depot workers as men and women who have been “ carrying out dangerous missions with bravery and skill . ” In 2006 , the depot earned the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing as well as the 2006 Best Manufacturing Practices Award of Excellence . History . From 1900 to 1936 , Tobyhanna Lake , and nearby lakes at Gouldsboro and Klondike , were sites of ice collection and storage , producing up to 150 boxcar loads per day between them that was shipped as far as Florida . In 1912 , Tobyhanna had a railway station , telegraph , and post office . At that time the U . S . Army had no artillery training range east of Wisconsin , and Major Charles P . Summerall , commander of the 3rd Field Artillery at Fort Myer , Virginia chose the site as a suitable training range . After leasing land for $ 300 in 1912 and 1913 , Summerall persuaded Congress to authorize the purchase of 18 , 000 acres ( 73 km² ) for $ 50 , 000 ; eventually the military reservation was expanded to 22 , 000 acres ( 89 km² ) " ( according to the Tobyhanna Army Depot ) " or 26 , 000 acres ( 105 km² ) " ( according to Pennsylvania DCNR ) " . The land was used as a tank and ambulance corps training center from 1914 – 1918 , for artillery training from 1918 – 1931 and 1937 – 1941 , and to house Civilian Conservation Corps enrollees 1931 - 1937 . During World War II , initial plans for use of the site as a training site for anti - aircraft artillery were dropped , due to the long range of more modern weapons - some shells strayed onto private land , and " the Scranton Times reported that crews could only fire one or two shells during each pass of a target , and guns were limited to a 65 - degree firing arc . " Subsequently the camp became the base of an all - black segregated ambulance corps , and a military hospital ( 19 single - story structures ) was constructed in expectation of casualties from the invasion of Japan . At the end of World War II the military reservation became one of 138 sites around the U . S . holding German prisoners of war ( a maximum of 300 POWs ) , and was used for storage of gliders used in the D - Day invasion . From 1946 - 1948 it was used by the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers . In April 1949 , most of the military reservation was returned to Pennsylvania , and converted into Game Land 127 , Gouldsboro State Park , and Tobyhanna State Park , while 1400 acres ( 5 . 7 km² ) , after briefly being transferred to Pennsylvania , were reacquired by the Army Signal Corps in 1951 as the Tobyhanna Army Depot . This site was selected as having access to East Coast shipping and manufacturers while being outside of possible nuclear blast radii surrounding New York City and Scranton . At that time the decline of anthracite coal ing in the region had led to the unemployment of 35 , 000 workers in the region , and the new Depot received 600 job applications a day two years in advance of its opening . Tobyhanna is Northeastern Pennsylvania ' s largest employer . Base Security Radio System . The radio system is for the base is a Project 25 and can be monitored on a frequency of 308 . 3875 and 308 . 6875 with security on talk groups 301 and 302 . < http : / / www . radioreference . com / apps / db / ? sid = 5622 >