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The Arms Across America poster is a striking anti-war map produced by the War Resisters League at the end of the Cold War era.

The map illustrates the vast network of U.S. military installations across the country, categorizing bases by the branch of the armed forces—Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force—and highlighting those involved in nuclear weapons. The map’s emphasis is on the breadth and scale of the military-industrial complex, highlighting over a thousand sites, with a notable number of facilities whose exact locations are deliberately obscured from public knowledge. The poster conveys the pervasive nature of U.S. militarization and critiques the state’s preparation for global conflict.

The War Resisters League (WRL), one of the longest-standing secular pacifist organizations in the United States, was particularly active in opposing nuclear weapons and the broader arms race during the Cold War. The organization played a significant role in the anti-nuclear movement that peaked in the late 1970s and 1980s. During this period, public anxiety about nuclear conflict reached its height, as NATO deployed intermediate-range nuclear forces in Europe, and events like the Three Mile Island accident fueled fears of both nuclear energy and weapons. Massive protests, such as the June 1982 demonstration in New York City, were central to this movement, with more than a million participants rallying against nuclear escalation. The WRL was instrumental in organizing these protests and spreading awareness of the threats posed by the continued expansion of nuclear arsenals.

The text beneath the map provides a detailed critique of U.S. military policy and infrastructure. It discusses the use of these installations for training soldiers in nuclear and conventional warfare, as well as for planning and executing military operations. The map itself is complemented by an extensive list of facilities on the reverse side, underscoring the scale of militarization in the U.S. The WRL's message is clear: these installations serve as a backbone for U.S. global dominance and are directly tied to preparations for the so-called “Third World War,” which they saw as a continuation of imperialistic and militaristic agendas.

The verso lists each of the bases in operation. 

Transcription of the Four Columns of Text:

Army

If highlighted in red, this installation is a nuclear weapons-related facility.

You don’t need to look to the Middle East or Central America to see the effects of U.S. militarism, it’s often no farther than your own hometown. To maintain nearly half a million troops in other people’s countries and to enforce U.S. foreign policy, there are approximately 4,000 military installations in our own country. The military uses these installations to train soldiers in the use of nuclear weapons and in the techniques of low-intensity conflict, to develop and test nuclear and conventional weapons, to plan and launch U.S. attacks, and, if necessary, wage nuclear wars.

This map contains listings for over 1,000 of the most significant military installations in the U.S. It lists every major Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force installation, along with many Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Air National Guard and Department of Energy facilities. The information used to compile this map comes largely from government publications, supplemented with data from Nukewatch, The GWEN Project, Army Times' 'Guide to Military Installations in the U.S.', Low Intensity Conflict, and Nuclear Battlefields, and several issues of RECON and The Defense Monitor.

Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard

If highlighted in red, this installation is a nuclear weapons-related facility.

This map presents a strong visual statement on the immensity of the military in America. The map graphically divides the country to depict how these military facilities fragment and disrupt our society. While militarism infiltrates every aspect of our lives at home, these military bases are vital in fighting wars in the Third World and preparing for the Third World War. As war resisters we can begin our opposition to war preparations by organizing around nearby facilities. Local facilities are the backbone of the U.S. military."

Air Force

If highlighted in red, this installation is a nuclear weapons-related facility.

We have strived to make this map accurate and reliable. The reverse side of the map lists all the installations, their location, and a short description of their function. Proper names, in some instances shortened, are given in capitals. In the descriptions, we have chosen common English wording over confusing military jargon. More information about each of these military bases can be obtained from the WRL National Office.

Nuclear Weapons Related Facilities

War resisters need to look closer at the departments involved: some National Guard, Coast Guard, reserve, NASA, and other departments and installations are not on this map. These facilities, however, play vital roles in arming America.

In August 1989, Congress accepted a report issued by the Commission on Base Realignment and Closure calling for the closing of 86 installations, the partial closing of 5 and the realignment of 54 others. Barring legal actions, base closings will be conducted between 1991 and 1995.

The Arms Across America map is both a tool for education and a visual statement on the pervasive nature of U.S. military infrastructure during the late Cold War, aimed at mobilizing resistance against militarization and nuclear proliferation.