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12 Mar 12. Aircraft Boneyard Supports DOD Readiness, Saves Taxpayer Dollars. The 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, better known as the “boneyard,” contains nearly 4,000 aircraft and 6,650 aircraft engines, making it the largest aircraft storage and preservation facility in the world.
AMARG, located at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, is creating efficiencies and readiness for the military through its five core missions, said Robert Raine, a retired naval officer and AMARG public affairs director.
First is storage and preservation.
The site was chosen because Tucson’s environment is conducive to reducing rust and corrosion. Additionally, its hard soil makes it possible to move aircraft around without having to pave the storage areas, Raine said.
Preservation is accomplished by taping and spraying each aircraft with sealant designed to keep animals out, reduce corrosion and keep the aircraft about 10 degrees cooler than outside temperatures, which can be extremely hot in the summer, he said. The sealant can easily be removed if needed.
Also, engines stored in engine cans are sealed with nitrogen because oxygen has a corrosive effect, Raine said.
Second is aircraft regeneration.
Regeneration means returning the aircraft back into service, Raine said. For example, two B-1 Lancer heavy bombers in the boneyard were returned to the Air Force and are now flying again. Also, C-23 Army Sherpas were regenerated and given to the U.S. Forest Service, and B-57 bombers were given to NASA for high-altitude coverage that included following in the path of last year’s eclipse.
Some aircraft are regenerated into unmanned aerial targets, Raine said. Nearly 1,100 aircraft — F-102 Delta Daggers, F-100 Super Sabres, F-106 Delta Darts, F-4 Phantom IIs and F-16 Fighting Falcons — have been processed for drone conversion in the 48 years since this program began.
Third is parts reclamation.
In the past year, about 10,000 parts worth around $500 m were given to the services, Raine said. Had those parts been purchased new, they would have cost considerably more, and the ordering process would have been time-consuming. Also, some parts are no longer manufactured.
“We’re not an infinite source of parts, but we’re often the only source of parts,” he said.
Fourth is disposal preparation.
Disposal is done when the aircraft and its parts are no longer needed, Raine said. Contractors shred the aircraft and sort through the shreds for aluminum, copper and exotic metals. These valuable metals cover the cost of shredding. If the salvaged metals exceed the cost of the shredding operation, the contractors will cut a check to the Treasury Department.
Fifth is depot-level maintenance.
Sometime an aircraft will need a weapons system or structural repairs, Raine said. Technicians, engineers and mechanics install upgrades, and the aircraft is expeditiously returned to the force.
Currently, a temporary aircraft maintenance shelter is under construction and almost completed.
“This will enable us to expand operations to take on additional projects and meet increasing demands. This new facility is part of a broader organic industrial base initiative aimed at enhancing self-sufficiency to ensure we have the resources, capabilities and workforce required for sustaining long-term readiness,” Raine said.
Besides military parts and aircraft, the boneyard also stores aircraft from other agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, NASA, Forest Service, National Science Foundation and Smithsonian Institution. AMARG also stores aircraft for allied nations.
Additionally, AMARG maintains more than 270,000 line-items of aircraft production special tooling and special test equipment.
“This facility is a key force multiplier for the Department of Defense and continues to allow the United States to rapidly adjust to the global environment, national security threats and fiscal realities,” Raine said.
AMARG continues to strive to deliver excellent, safe and compliant maintenance and repair as well as overhauling logistics, storage and support services, Raine said.
The boneyard has been in existence since 1946, when wartime B-29 bombers and C-47 transport aircraft were stored there.
When the Soviet Union closed road, rail and canal traffic into Berlin in 1948, approximately one fourth of the stored C-47 cargo aircraft were withdrawn from storage and returned to flying service in support of the Berlin Airlift, he said.
In the early 1950s, AMARG withdrew and regenerated nearly 150 B-29s to support bombing missions in North Korea, as well as more than 80 B-29s to provide the United Kingdom with an interim long-range strike capability between the Avro Lincoln heavy bomber of World War II and arrival of the English Electric Canberra jet.
In 1991, AMARG oversaw the elimination of the last 443 ground-launched cruise missiles as part of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, along with the elimination of 314 B-52 bomber aircraft begun under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.
“AMARG’s long history of commitment to high standards, enhancing force readiness, and supporting America’s warfighters has earned the command the title, America’s National Airpower Reservoir,” Raine said. (Source: U.S. DoD)
13 Mar 13. Senior Joint Force Leaders Testify on Border Operations, Missile Defense. Senior-level leaders of the joint force testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday on border enforcement operations and a new domestic missile defense program.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James J. Mingus said troop readiness is taken into account more now than it was during the previous border deployment.
“The lessons we learned from 2019 is the troop-to-task was one for one … and so there was no time [for service members] to come offline to continue to train and do their mission,” Mingus said while testifying on Capitol Hill.
“[Now], we’re going to make sure that the troop-to-task allows for rotations, so that the degradation in readiness is not as substantial as what we saw in 2019,” he explained.
Regarding the value of having service members on the border, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney said the current mission to execute engineering and intelligence gathering tasks can be beneficial.
“In both of those, there is training value — especially for the intelligence analysts to collect and analyze [information], which is a very complex situation,” Mahoney said.
When pressed further on whether the joint force’s ability to train is being negatively overshadowed by tasks on the border, Mingus said the services need to be able to multitask.
“The joint force has to be able to execute offense, defense and stability operations simultaneously,” he said, adding the current border operation is defensive and there is a certain value associated with that.
“Is it going to be the same as if [service members] went to the National Training Center? Absolutely not, but there’s still value to be had if the leadership takes the right approach to it,” Mingus said.
On the topic of missile defense, senior leaders were asked about the feasibility of building the “Golden Dome” missile defense shield that President Donald J. Trump asked lawmakers to appropriate funds for during his March 4, 2025, joint address to Congress.
“It is a very bold vision that’s going to have a lot of complexity to it,” said Space Force Gen. Michael A. Guetlein, vice chief of space operations.
Guetlein added the project would be of such magnitude that he finds it comparable to the World War II-era Manhattan Project.
Despite the scale of development and level of cooperation between government, the defense industrial base, allies and other stakeholders that would be required to bring the “Golden Dome” online, senior leaders are optimistic of the project’s success.
“In 2008, we shot down a satellite that was deorbiting [and] full of fuel in six weeks. The whole-of-government got together with agencies, the science community and industry; and we made it happen,” said Navy Adm. James W. Kilby, vice chief of naval operations.
“So, we can do this. We just need to do the things that were outlined … provide clear lines of [command and control] … solid, consistent budgeting, and I’m convinced that we can deliver,” he told the committee. (Source: U.S. DoD)
11 Mar 11. Navy Intends to Ramp Up Shipbuilding Through Collaborative Efforts. U.S. shipbuilders continue to produce the highest quality, safest and most advanced warships on the planet, said Brett A. Seidle, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition, who testified today at a House Armed Services Committee’s seapower and projection forces subcommittee hearing on the state of U.S. shipbuilding.
“We have the finest Navy ever assembled in the history of the world,” Seidle said. “They’re coming to a theater near you, bringing their A game.”
However, at a time when adversaries around the globe challenge the maritime commons, the U.S. shipbuilding industry is challenged to produce the quantity of ships at the rate required, he said.
Cost and schedule performance remain challenging with deliveries approximately one to three years late and cost rising faster than overall inflation. These issues are prevalent across the nuclear and conventional shipbuilding communities with both the Navy and industry sharing responsibility, Seidle said.
Some things brought this about, he said, including reduced competition and capacity at tier-one shipyards. Additionally, suppliers have experienced atrophy of the manufacturing sector, shifting Navy requirements, burdensome acquisition processes, depressed investment, workforce shortages, diminished proficiency, supply chain disruptions, historic underinvestment and industry consolidation following the end of the Cold War.
“I was not raised in the shipbuilding environment and therefore am not saddled with preconceived notions of ‘this is how we’ve always done it.’ I certainly welcome informed perspectives from those who are passionate about strengthening our fleet,” Seidle said.
He believes these collective challenges can be overcome, he said.
“This committee has my passionate commitment to collaborate with Congress, industry, academia, training organizations, trade associations, as well as all levels of government in pursuit of improved cost and schedule performance,” Seidle testified.
“Our nation and the world need the strength of our Navy, and my intent is do everything in my power to deliver on that promise,” he said. (Source: U.S. DoD)
11 Mar 25. Safety board calls to end helo flights on route of fatal DC crash. The National Transportation and Safety Board has concluded that the separation distances allowed between helicopter and airplane traffic on the route where an Army helicopter and a commercial passenger jet collided midair on Jan. 29 near Washington “pose an intolerable risk to aviation safety,” according to its preliminary investigation report released Tuesday.
As a result, the NTSB is recommending helicopter flights be immediately prohibited on “Route 4″ — where the fatal crash occurred — between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge along the Potomac River when planes are landing or taking off on runways 15 and 33 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
The board is also recommending an alternative helicopter route between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when that segment of Route 4 is not open to rotary-wing traffic.
The on-scene investigation of the collision between the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, and a UH-60 Black Hawk over the Potomac River concluded Feb. 14
When the aircraft collided, the fuselage of the commercial jet broke apart in three places and was discovered inverted in waist-deep water in the Potomac. The helicopter wreckage was found nearby. All 64 people aboard the passenger jet and all three Army crew members aboard the Black Hawk — Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara — were killed.
Meanwhile, the investigation continues off-site in various labs and other secure locations, according to Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chair. The preliminary report lays out what happened but not how or why the crash happened, Homendy said in a briefing Tuesday.
“For this investigation, we’re reviewing airport operations and prior incidents, including near midair collision events,” Homendy said, using information from voluntary safety reporting programs and the Federal Aviation Administration.
That data shows that from 2011 through 2024, a “vast majority” of reported incidents occurred on approach to landing, and initial analysis found that at least one Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, or TCAS, Resolution Advisory was triggered per month at DCA due to a helicopter’s proximity, Homendy said.
Unlike traffic advisories, which are issued when an intruding aircraft is about 20 seconds or 0.3 nautical miles from the closest point of approach, TCAS resolution advisories signal a collision threat and require immediate action, Homendy said.
In over half of the encounters from 2011 to 2024, the helicopter may have been flying above the route altitude restriction, which is limited to a ceiling of 200 feet above the ground, Homendy said. Two-thirds of the events happened at night.
From October 2021 through December 2024, there were 944,179 commercial operations at DCA with 15,214 “close proximity events” between commercial planes and helicopters “in which there was a lateral separation distance of less than one nautical mile and vertical separation of less than 400 feet,” Homendy said.
Of those 15,214 events, there were 85 very close calls involving lateral separations of less than 1,500 feet and less than 200 feet of vertical separation, according to Homendy.
Through evaluation of the crash, the NTSB found that the Black Hawk was not flying in the very limited area it should have been flying near DCA.
“At the maximum altitude here of just 200 feet, a helicopter operating over the eastern shoreline of the Potomac River would have just 75 feet of vertical separation from an airplane approaching runway 33,” Homendy said.
Following the accident, the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy immediately restricted helicopter traffic from operating over the Potomac River at DCA until March 31.
“As that deadline nears, we remain concerned about the significant potential for a future midair collision at DCA, which is why we are recommending a permanent solution today,” Homendy noted.
Homendy acknowledged that fully closing Route 4 between Hains Point and the Wilson Bridge when runways 15 and 33 are in use would restrict a key aviation corridor for Coast Guard patrols, law enforcement and government operations. (Source: Defense News)
10 Mar 25. Trump seeks minerals refining on Pentagon bases to boost US output, sources say.
• Summary
• Plan aims to counter China’s control over critical minerals
• Fighter jets, submarines, bullets built with minerals processed by China
• Trump doesn’t plan to establish critical minerals stockpile, sources say
U.S. President Donald Trump aims to build metals refining facilities on Pentagon military bases as part of his plan to boost domestic production of critical minerals and offset China’s control of the sector, two senior administration officials told Reuters.
The move is one of several planned for an executive order Trump could sign as soon as Wednesday after he told the U.S. Congress last week he would “take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the USA.”
As part of the order, the Pentagon would work with other federal agencies to install processing facilities on its bases, according to the sources, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the administration’s deliberations.
Using military bases for processing would underscore the importance Trump is placing on critical minerals for national security. Fighter jets, submarines, bullets and other weaponry used by the U.S. military are built with minerals processed by Beijing.
Trump also plans to name a critical minerals czar, similar to steps previous presidents have taken to coordinate Washington’s focus on other areas, according to one of the sources. (Source: Reuters)
10 Mar 25. Stopgap budget bill includes extra funds for military, VA programs. A stopgap federal spending bill unveiled by House Republicans this weekend would add $6bn in new spending for the Defense Department and another $6bn for Veterans Affairs operations this fiscal year, but it still could cause financial headaches for both agencies in the end.
That’s because the proposal — which holds government spending at last fiscal year’s levels, with a few adjustments — would provide less funding for military projects than Pentagon leaders had hoped for this fiscal year and dump the controversial Toxic Exposures Fund for the VA next year. Democrats immediately decried the proposal as unworkable and unfair.
“This continuing resolution is a blank check for Elon Musk and creates more flexibility for him to steal from the middle class, seniors, veterans, working people, small businesses, and farmers to pay for tax breaks for bnaires,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.
“Veterans will suffer with higher housing costs, poorer quality of health care at the VA, and no advance funding for treatment from exposure to toxic chemicals.”
The funding bill — or an alternative spending package — must be approved by lawmakers before midnight Friday to prevent a partial government shutdown. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump took to social media to urge support for the measure, calling it “a very good funding bill” that will sustain critical government programs until next fall.
“Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the country’s ‘financial house’ in order,” Trump wrote.
House lawmakers are hoping to advance the measure Tuesday night. Republicans hold the majority in both the House and the Senate, but they will need Democratic support in the upper chamber to quickly pass the funding bill.
That may be difficult, given the numerous conservative priorities packed into the legislation.
The bill cuts overall nondefense spending by $13bn this fiscal year while increasing defense spending by $6bn. (Source: Defense News)
07 Mar 07. Pentagon Culls Social Science Research, Prioritizes Fiscal Responsibility and Technologies for Future Battlefield.
Cost savings of more than $30m in first year through discontinuation of 91 studies
The Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) is scrapping its social science research portfolio as part of a broader effort to ensure fiscal responsibility and prioritize mission-critical activities. This initiative involves focusing resources on technologies essential for maintaining a strong national defense, aligning with the Administration’s commitment to efficient government and ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.
The Department recognizes the value of academic research but – in response to President Trump’s Executive Orders and Secretary Hegseth’s priorities in his January 25, 2025, “Message to the Force” and January 29, 2025, Memorandum, “Restoring America’s Fighting Force” – recognizes that funded research must address pressing needs to develop and field advanced military capabilities. Several studies are affected by this shift, including those focused on global migration patterns, climate change impacts, and social trends. Examples include:
• The Climate-Food-Urbanization Nexus and the Precursors of Instability in Africa
• Social and Institutional Determinants of Vulnerability and Resilience to Climate Hazards in the African Sahel
• Anticipating Costal Population Mobility: Path to Maladaptation or Sociopolitical Stability
• Comparing Underlying Drivers of South-North Migration in Central America and West Africa
• Democracy Quest
• The Language of Parasocial Influence and the Emergence of Extremism
• Weaponized Conspiracies
• Beyond the Clock: Understanding Cross-Cultural Temporal Orientation of Military Officers
• Food Fights: War Narratives and Identity Reproduction in Evolving Conflicts
• Future Fish Wars: Chasing Ocean Ecosystem Wealth
The Department expects to see cost savings of more than $30 m in the first year through the discontinuation of 91 studies, including the examples listed above.
Secretary of Defense Hegseth has emphasized the importance of equipping the American military with the tools and capabilities necessary to deter adversaries and maintain a strong defense. This initiative directly supports that commitment by prioritizing investments in areas like hypersonic weapons development, AI-powered systems for enhanced battlefield awareness, and strengthening the domestic military industrial base.
The realignment also reflects the Department’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and ensuring every dollar invested in defense generates the greatest possible return for the American people. By focusing on the most impactful technologies, the Department is ensuring the U.S. military remains the most powerful and advanced fighting force in the world.
(Source: U.S. DoD)
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