The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309th AMARG),[3] 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 arid climate of the region makes the 309th AMARG an ideal location for storing aircraft, as there is very little humidity in the air that would corrode metal.

[5] Davis–Monthan Field was chosen because of Tucson's low humidity, infrequent rainfall, alkaline soil, and high altitude of 2,550 feet (780 m), reducing rust and corrosion.

[9] In the 1990s, in accordance with the START I treaty, the center was tasked with eliminating 365 Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers.

Initially, the B-52s were chopped into pieces with a 13,000 pound guillotine winched by a steel cable supported by a crane.

On average, AMARG annually returns approximately $500 million worth of spare parts to military, government, and allied customers.

Aircraft that fly again either return to the U.S. military, U.S. government agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Forest Service, and NASA, or are sold to allied governments under either the Foreign Military Sales program of the Arms Export Control Act,[citation needed] or the Excess Defense Articles program of the Foreign Assistance Act.