Davis–Monthan Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base 5 miles southeast of downtown Tucson, Arizona. It was established in 1925 as Davis–Monthan Landing Field. The host unit for Davis–Monthan AFB is the 355th Wing assigned to Twelfth Air Force (12AF), part of Air Combat Command (ACC). The base is best known as the location of the Air Force Materiel Command's 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, the aircraft boneyard for all excess military and U.S. government aircraft and aerospace vehicles.
The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group's "aircraft boneyard" located at Davis–Monthan AFB
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