The Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD), located in Richmond, Ky., was established in 1941 and began operations in 1942 as an ammunition and general supply storage depot, the Blue Grass Ordnance Depot. In 1964, it merged with the Lexington Signal Depot, Avon, Kentucky, to become the Lexington-Blue Grass Army Depot. The Lexington facility was selected for closure under BRAC (Base Realignment And Closure); after it closed in September 1999, the remaining facility received its current designation.

The Blue Grass Army Depot is responsible for manufacturing, resetting, and maintaining Army equipment, providing America's Joint Warfighters with quality, timely, and reliable crucial materiel, including munitions, chemical defense equipment, non-lethal combat equipment, and force provider sets, in support of full spectrum of Military Operations.  The primary function of BGAD is to receive, store, inspect, surveil, ship, and demilitarize/destroy conventional munitions.

The depot also safeguarded America's chemical munition stockpiles, which completed demilitarization on July 7, 2023, and is currently undergoing remediation and closing procedures. In 2023, a federally mandated feasibility study initiated a series of depot-wide workload research studies, which are developing prospective future workload options for BGAD, the US Army, and the OIB so the depot can continue providing responsive, agile, and innovative munition and materiel strategic support to America's Joint Armed Forces.

BGAD also serves as a large training facility for Army Natural Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers and service members from America's other military branches, ROTC cadets and JROTC cadets.