National Guard Depot

Located along the northern edge of Downtown DC, the National Guard Depot is a high-security compound that used to be the headquarters for the Washington militia. It can be reached from the Wasteland, avoiding the Metro system. An easy way to find the Armory, is to head directly south from Vault 108, or from the Robot Repair Center (which is directly north of Vault 108). One can also head east from Friendship Heights along the wall of buildings, past Rock Creek Caverns.

National Guard Depot
The interior to the Depot can be confusing as much of it looks the same and even the keenest sense of direction can get turned around. Make sure to explore all floors of the Depot as there is a lot of loot for making your schematic items.

To open the Utility door that leads to the armory you want to make a left as you enter the Depot. Bypass the first set of stairs and head to the room to the back, left hand or South corner (this will not look like the farthest back you can go on your local map). Take that flight of stairs up and once on the next floor head West around the fallen steel truss. Entering the room with the collapsed staircase you have two options; attempt to get through the small spots in the rubble to the next floor (which is do able, but any companions will not be able to follow and may die when you activate the Electrical switch that opens the Utility door and you will still want to traverse the Offices and Training Wing for the valuable loot - see below) or going through the door to your right.

If you choose to follow the stairs I suggest watching the YouTube video below.

If you choose to pick up your loot on the way up proceed past the cubicles and through the door at the north end of the room. Making a left head down the stairs to the Southwest. You should at this point be able to see the Utility door through the hole in the floor to your left. Continue East to the room with the Nuka-Cola Machines. Next to the second Nuka-Cola Machine and Eat'o'tronic 3000 is the door to the Depot Training Wing.

Training Wing
Heading East go through one of the two holes in the wall. There is a hallway at the North end of the room. (The door to the East end of the hallway leads upstairs to the room with the skill book and a safe.) Follow the hallway West. Beyond the room with the weapons and ammo is the locker room - go East to the training grounds. The door in the far Southeast corner leads to a supply room with two ammo boxes and three first aid kits, past those is the door to the Offices.

Offices
The Offices are much easier to navigate. Head down the first staircase toward the second staircase, behind the locked door at the bottom of the stairs is the turret control. At the top of the second staircase is a room to the South. Go beyond the desk and up the stairs. At the top of the stairs head West. Entering the next room head to it's far Northwest corner and climb up the rubble to the next floor.

The door at the top of the rubble has a Sentry Bot behind it and leads to the Guard Depot upper floors.

Once back in the Depot you will find yourself in a room with a toppled Nuka-Cola Machine, in the west corner of the room is the switch to the Utility door. From there you can hop over the desk and assault at least one of the Sentry Bots from there and simply jump down to the floors below.

National Guard Armory
The Armory is only accessible after traversing the National Guard Depot, the National Guard Training Wing, the National Guard Depot Offices, then exiting from the Offices back to the National Guard Depot (update - you can also reach the switch from jumping on a slope in the mid level of the room). Just as you exit back into the Depot, there is an electrical switch about 15 feet to your left. This will unlock the Utility Door two stories below you, which in turn allows you to enter the Armory. (The utility door cannot be lockpicked, even though it is shown with a Very Hard lock). BUT, be careful, there is a Sentry robot or a Mister Gutsy right inside. Activating the second switch inside the utility room will open a trap door that leads into the Armory itself.

National Guard Bunker
The National Guard Bunker, accessed through the National Guard Armory, is opened by completing the unmarked quest Keller Family Refuge. Inside the bunker is the Experimental MIRV (and a plasma grenade hidden in a cooking pot on the first set of shelves left-hand side.) Also 5 Mini Nukes can be found next to the MIRV and a Nuka-Cola Quantum lies in a bin near the back. You may also come across a Glowing One inside.

Inhabitants
The National Guard Depot is mainly inhabited by Sentry Bots, Mister Gutsys, Protectrons, and Robobrains. Because of this, it would be a good idea to bring along Pulse Grenades and a powerful weapon if exploring this area. Mr. Keller can be found in the bunker containing the Experimental MIRV.

Depot

 * Nikola Tesla And You located in the National Guard Depot, in a storeroom on the lowest level (If you stand in front of the "Very Hard" door leading to the armory it is the storeroom directly to your right in one of the shelves.)
 * Pre-War Book: two located in the National Guard Depot on the third floor, up the staircase to the left after entering from The Capital Wasteland, reachable by jumping over the shelves and pipe at the top of the stairs. The books are on the top shelf of the shelves against the left (Eastern) wall. There is another set of stairs leading to them against the South wall, in the South-Eastern corner of the room.

Training Wing

 * Go up the eastern staircase and follow the hallway to the only room up there. As you enter there is a standard metal/grey desk directly in front of you with a Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor on it.
 * There is a safe in a adjacent room near where you found Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor. You walk through a collapsed section of wall from this room to the room with the Average Locked safe.
 * Safe may contain a Stealth Boy.
 * Pre-War Book on the shelf above the above mentioned safe.

Offices

 * Duck and Cover! located on a long counter in an irradiated section of the National Guard Offices portion.
 * Three more Pre-War Books in the National Guard Offices on the shelves in the center of an open collapsed two floor room, one level above the long counter in an irradiated section as mentioned above.

Armory Storage

 * The Bobblehead: Small Guns located on a shelf in the sealed storage room in the basement of the Armory.
 * A large amount of Army-issue weaponry and gear, including:
 * 2 10mm SMGs.
 * 2 10mm Pistols.
 * 84 10mm Rounds.
 * 2 suits of Combat Armor.
 * 2 Combat Helmets.
 * 4 Combat Knives.
 * 4 Police Batons.
 * 4 Frag Grenades.
 * 4 Frag Mines.
 * 4 Pulse Grenades.
 * 4 Pulse Mines.
 * 1 Minigun.
 * 1 Missile Launcher.
 * 10 Missiles.

Armory Bunker

 * Five Mini Nukes and the unique Fat Man, the Experimental MIRV.
 * A Nuka-Cola Quantum (underneath the table that holds the Experimental MIRV).
 * A copy of U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes (on the same table as the Experimental MIRV)
 * All of the ingredients for a Nuka Grenade are located in the bunker (Nuka-Cola Quantum, Tin Can, Abraxo Cleaner and Turpentine) so using the Workbench the player can craft one; should they have the schematics.

Glitches

 * You can get inside the bunker without getting the transcripts. To do so, walk into the corner made by the door and bunker access terminal. Then crouch, go into third person view, and twirl the camera around until it says "activate electrical switch". The trigger is very small, but should appear on the door or the door frame, a little higher than the player's head. Activate it, and the bunker door will open. This is a brilliant time saving method and should be used if you don't want to bother hunting down the transcripts.
 * A character with high Agility can enter the Armory without going through the Training Wing and Depot Offices. Locate the staircase in the middle of the eastern wall of the National Guard Depot, and climb to the top. From there, head due west past the fallen steel truss, around or over the gap in the floor, and go through the open doorway. Straight ahead is a pile of fallen floors or walls blocking another staircase. By jumping up the left side of this rubble (place a barrel to jump on) and then crouching, it's possible to climb the rubble and stairs to gain access the the highest level of the building. From there, head to the far southeast corner where you can jump down to the electrical switch to the Armory.
 * There is another way to get up using only one barrel at the northwestern end of the second floor down, push a barrel to the top of the ramp, and jump to the top.
 * There is a way to get to the top of the National Guard Depot building by only having to use two barrels. The player has to go to the middle of the fourth floor then go to the fallen radio tower and the caved in ceiling. From there the player has to put a barrel on the radio tower and jump on it from the collapsed ceiling, putting the player on the fifth floor. The player then has to go to the inaccessible stair case with the emergency lights. Put a barrel on the patch of rubble by the collapsed cubicle. Jump on the tallest corner of the collapsed cubicle, then jump on the barrel and then to the top floor.
 * Yet another method to get to the top floor in the Depot is simply to go to the collapsed staircase which looks impossible to get through, but with just a little jerking you can sneak through the small gap in the "ruined" staircase. Go to the left side of the staircase, crouch, back up a little and jump onto the rubble. Crouching before jumping will keep you crouched when you land. Simply walk forward and jump over the remaining rubble blocking the door way. When you get through and topside, simply walk over to the place where the switch is, at the far end of the depot.

Appearances
appears only in Fallout 3.

YouTube Videos
A faster way to open the Armory door (instead of using a barrel you can jump on Dogmeat) WWf2XelJzOs


 * Getting inside the bunker without the transcripts

tMnr_ovRZoQ