US Air Force's 'boneyard' saving taxpayers millions on aircraft components
Where planes go to die and, sometimes, live again
They call it the “boneyard,” but in 2019 alone, it saved taxpayers $405.9 million.
The U.S. Air Force’s 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309 AMARG) stores and maintains approximately 3,300 aircraft and aerospace vehicles from the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Coast Guard and federal agencies including NASA.
In addition to storing old planes, the 309 AMARG restores aircraft back to flight status. This includes extending the service life of the A-10 attack aircraft which initially came into service in 1977 and bringing F-16 Falcon fighter jets back to life as drones or target aircraft.
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“When the aircraft are either done being used or need to be retooled or repurposed, they bring them out here to Arizona because the low humidity is really food for the planes and the soil is really compact and sturdy and it can hold the planes,” FOX Business’ Grady Trimble reported.
The 309 AMARG’s boneyard facility is situated on 2,600 acres at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona and employs a 775-member workforce.
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Many of the planes along the boneyard’s “display row,” either go back into military service or go to different government agencies like the U.S. Forest Service or NASA, Trimble told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney.
The group’s Commodities Squadron is responsible for stripping aircraft for parts and, in 2019, reclaimed and shipped 5,744 parts with a cost avoidance value of $405.9 million, according to the Air Force.
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“They really use every last bit of the plane. It helps taxpayers save money and it helps the U.S. military make the most of the resources they have,” Trimble said.
Aircraft in long-term storage at the facility are maintained by the group’s Storage Services Flight which safeguards the assets and makes reactivation of these planes possible.
Trimble noted that the oldest plane currently maintained in the boneyard is a B-57 bomber from 1950s.