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NEWS | Jan. 5, 2023

Tobyhanna Army Depot named 'Legacy Business of the Year' by Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce

By Ms. Danielle E. Weinschenk

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. —Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD) was celebrated among the Greater Wyoming Valley’s top businesses Tuesday night – earning accolades as “Legacy Business of the Year.”

Tobyhanna was selected for the honor based upon its history of successful business, leadership, marketing, customer satisfaction, and community involvement in the Greater Wyoming Valley. The award, presented during the Chamber’s annual dinner at the Mohegan Pennsylvania Resort, highlighted the depot in front of more than 400 members and guests in attendance.

The award was accepted on behalf of the depot by Deputy Commander Robert Lantka and Chief of Staff Kristyn Smith, who thanked the community for their enduring support.

“It is because of your support that we can support our Nation and its Allies, and working together, we can ensure the future success of our region,” she said.

Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Lindsay Griffin-Boylan noted the event, themed around celebrating community and catalytic change, recognized businesses that are driving innovation in the region.

“Everyone we honored tonight created a spark,” Griffin-Boylan said. “They are catalysts for growth and opportunity.”

The history of what is now called Tobyhanna Army Depot can be traced back an astounding 110 years to 1912. Commander of the 3rd Field Artillery from Fort Myer, Virginia, Major Charles P. Summerall was searching for land that he could use to train his unit. He went on to purchase the over 20,000 acres where TYAD resides to this day. At the time of purchase, it was the only place in entire the state of Pennsylvania where active-duty Army and National Guard units were permitted to use live cannon fire.

Early on, the site was also used as a Civilian Conservation Corps camp, a location for artillery training of West Point cadets, a tank and ambulance center during World War I, a World War II prisoner-of-war camp, a storage point for gliders used in the D-Day landings at Normandy in 1944 and it also briefly served as an anti-aircraft artillery training site during World War II.

The entity now known as TYAD has operated under many different names including Camp Summerall, Camp Tobyhanna, Tobyhanna Signal Depot and the Tobyhanna Artillery Target Range. It wasn’t until the year 1962 that the name “Tobyhanna Army Depot” was settled upon following an Army-wide reorganization.

TYAD charts its future course through its long-range strategic plan, TOBY2035. The plan focuses on posturing the depot to support future force requirements and has four lines of effort dedicated to ensuring C5ISR readiness across the joint services, connecting with the community, investing in its people, and shaping the future.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C5ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.

Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint warfighters.

About 3,100 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to empower the Soldier with winning C5ISR capabilities.