Try finding a single, high-resolution map of all US military bases that includes every secret warehouse, drone strip, and training range. It’s impossible. Not because people haven't tried, but because the Department of Defense (DoD) keeps the official data scattered across a dozen different bureaucratic silos. You have the "Base Structure Report" (BSR) which is a massive PDF full of property data, but it doesn't just hand you a Google Maps link to every site.
The scale is honestly staggering.
We’re talking about a global footprint that covers over 25 million acres. That is larger than the entire state of Indiana. If you’re looking at a map of the United States, you'll see massive clusters in places like San Diego, Norfolk, and San Antonio. But then there are the "lily pads." These are smaller, cooperative security locations often found in Africa or Southeast Asia that don't always show up on a standard domestic map.
Why a map of all US military bases is never truly finished
The Pentagon manages roughly 4,500 sites. Most people think of "bases" as these huge cities like Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) or Naval Station Norfolk. In reality, a "base" on a map might just be a single radio tower in the middle of a cornfield or a recruitment office in a strip mall. This makes mapping them a nightmare for data purists.
The DoD categorizes these into large, medium, and small installations. A large installation has a plant replacement value of over $2 billion. Think of the massive flight lines at Nellis Air Force Base or the sprawling tank ranges at Fort Bliss. Then you have "Other Sites," which are often just tiny plots of land used for weather monitoring or storage.
If you look at the 2023 Base Structure Report, the Army alone manages over 2,000 sites. The Navy has around 500. The Air Force is sitting on roughly 800. These numbers fluctuate because of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) processes. Basically, the government is always trying to shed "excess" property to save money, but it’s a slow, political slog.
The domestic giants you see on every map
If you open up a digital map of all US military bases, certain states just light up. Texas, California, and Virginia are the big three.
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California is the gateway to the Pacific. You have Camp Pendleton, which is essentially a small country for Marines, tucked right between Los Angeles and San Diego. Then there’s the Mojave Desert, home to China Lake and Fort Irwin. These places are so big they have their own weather patterns. You can see them from space as giant, brown rectangles of restricted airspace.
Virginia is the brain. Between the Pentagon in Arlington and the massive naval presence in Hampton Roads, it’s the densest concentration of military power on the planet. If you’re mapping these, you can’t ignore the "Joint Bases." Since 2005, the military has been smashing different branches together to share fences. Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington is a prime example. It’s an Army post and an Air Force base living under one command structure to cut down on redundant lawn mowing and gate security.
The "Lily Pad" strategy and overseas mapping
Mapping the international footprint is where things get really murky. Technically, the US has around 750 bases in 80 different countries. Some experts, like David Vine, author of Base Nation, argue the number is actually higher if you count every secret "black site" or temporary outpost.
Japan and Germany still hold the highest numbers. This is a direct hangover from World War II. In Okinawa, the map is so crowded with US installations that it’s a constant source of local political tension. Then you have the Middle East. Bases like Al Udeid in Qatar aren't technically "US bases"—we just "rent" space or have "access agreements."
- Europe: Focused heavily in Germany (Ramstein, Grafenwoehr) and Italy (Aviano, Vicenza).
- Pacific: Massive hubs in Guam, South Korea (Camp Humphreys is the largest overseas US base), and Japan.
- Africa: Mostly small drone sites or "Contingency Locations" like Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti.
What most people get wrong about military maps
A lot of folks look at a map and think every dot represents 10,000 soldiers with bayonets. Honestly, most dots on a map of all US military bases are warehouses or administrative offices.
Take the "Global Guard and Reserve" sites. There are hundreds of these. They might just be an armory in a small town in Ohio where people show up one weekend a month. On a map, that dot looks the same as a Special Forces training camp. It’s not.
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There is also the issue of "Restricted Airspace." If you look at a sectional chart (what pilots use), huge swaths of the American West are shaded out. The Nevada Test and Training Range is a "base," but it’s mostly empty space where pilots can drop dummy bombs without hitting a Starbucks. You can’t just walk there, and you definitely can’t drive a Google Street View car through it.
The technology behind the maps
In 2026, we aren't just looking at paper maps. We use the Defense Installation Spatial Data Infrastructure (DISDI). This is the "internal" Google Maps for the Pentagon. It uses high-resolution satellite imagery and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to track every single building, pipe, and power line on a base.
While civilians can't see the DISDI layers, researchers use tools like OpenStreetMap or Google Earth to piece the puzzle together. Sometimes, the military accidentally leaks its own map data. A few years ago, the fitness app Strava released a "heatmap" of where people were running. It inadvertently revealed the layout of secret bases in Syria and Afghanistan because soldiers were jogging in circles around the perimeter with their GPS watches on.
Finding the actual data yourself
If you want to build your own map of all US military bases, don't just search Google Images. You’ll get outdated infographics from 2014.
Go to the source: the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment. They publish the annual BSR. It’s a dry, 200-page document, but it lists every single piece of real estate the US military owns or leases.
Another great resource is the Military Installations website (MilitaryONEsource). It’s designed for families moving to new bases, so it has incredibly accurate maps of housing, gates, and facilities for all the major "enduring" installations.
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Actionable steps for researchers and travelers
If you’re trying to visualize or visit (legally) these locations, here is how you handle it.
First, differentiate between "Open" and "Closed" installations. Some bases, like the National Parks-managed Presidio or certain historic forts, allow public access. Most active-duty combat bases require a Common Access Card (CAC) or a pre-vetted visitor pass. Don't just follow a GPS dot to a gate; you'll end up staring at a guy with an M4 carbine who is not interested in your mapping project.
Second, use the "ASR" (Annual Structure Report) to find the acreage. This helps you understand if a dot on the map is a tiny office or a massive training range like White Sands, which is larger than some small countries.
Finally, keep an eye on the "Pacific Deterrence Initiative." The map is currently shifting. We are seeing more "distributed" operations in places like the Philippines and Australia. The days of giant, centralized "megabases" are slowly giving way to a more scattered map designed to be harder to hit with long-range missiles.
Mapping the US military is a study in geography, politics, and sheer scale. It's a living, breathing network that changes every time a lease is signed in Poland or a runway is decommissioned in California.