This photo was taken at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, here in Tucson. It is just a very small portion of the Air Force Materiel Command's 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG)…AKA “The Aircraft Bone Yard.” Its primary mission is to store excess military and government aircraft. Davis-Monthan was selected due to our low humidity and hard, alkaline soil, which allows the aircraft to be naturally preserved for cannibalization or possible reuse.
Davis-Monthan (named after 2 local World War I pilots) is an active base with many different military units beside AMARG. Among others, it is the home of the A-10 “Warthog” aircraft, used so effectively in both Iraqi wars to destroy enemy tanks. Tucson residents can look up and see them flying overhead on a regular basis.
The storage facility of AMARG alone covers 2,600 acres. Besides storing excess aircraft, the facility also repairs aircraft, disassembles surplus aircraft for parts (for sale to countries who still use older-style aircraft)…and destroys aircraft to comply with the SALT treaty. Russian spy satellites fly over the base to confirm that the US is living up to the treaty. We also have satellites monitoring similar facilities in Russia.
The number of planes on-site varies, almost day-to-day. The highest number of planes ever stored here was over 10,000 shortly after the end of the Vietnam War. Today, the number is about 4,000…my best guess.
The AMARG facility is easily visible from nearby Tucson streets. In fact, one main street dips down below ground level to accommodate overpasses that are used to move aircraft from one side to another. Its quite a site to see a B-52 bomber being moved on an overpass above your car.
If you want a closer look, tours of the bone yard run daily from the Pima Air and Space Museum. It is a fascinating tour and gives you a good look a some of the most famous aircraft in US Military History. Well worth the time.
I took this photo while on the tour. I used a very long lens to capture the planes, so the Santa Catalina Mountains appear closer than they really are. I got lucky with shadows and light on the mountains.
(To see a larger version of this photo, just click on the image)
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