309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group
The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, often called The Boneyard, is a United States Air Force aircraft and missile storage and maintenance facility in Tucson, Arizona, located on Davis–Monthan Air Force Base. The 309th AMARG was previously Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center, and the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center.
Aircraft in storage at Davis–Monthan AFB
Image: 309 Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Gp
Aerial view of the AMARC facility, 16 May 1992.
Welcome sign at AMARC before its 2007 name change.
An aircraft boneyard or aircraft graveyard is a storage area for aircraft which are retired from service. Most aircraft at boneyards are either kept for storage continuing to receive some maintenance or parts of the aircraft are removed for reuse or resale and the aircraft are scrapped. Boneyard facilities are generally located in deserts such as those in the southwestern United States, since the dry conditions reduce corrosion and the hard ground does not need to be paved. In some cases, aircraft which were planned to be scrapped or were stored indefinitely without plans of ever returning to service were brought back into service, as the aviation market or the demands of military aviation changed or failed to develop as was anticipated.
Boeing B-52s in storage or awaiting dismantlement at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Tucson, Arizona