Title Picture: Two Douglas KC-10 Extenders situated on Area 7 shortly after retirement. Both these aircraft served with the 305th Air Mobility Wing based at JB McGuire, NJ. The aircraft on the left is part way through its preservation process, before the final white coat of spraylat has been applied. Photo from 309th AMARG Public Affairs Office.
May 2nd, 2007 to Now
On May 2, 2007, AMARC was officially redesignated as the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (309th AMARG). This renaming was driven by an organizational restructuring within the Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC). The primary factors included aligning the facility under a numbered maintenance wing to streamline operations, enhance integration with enterprise-wide logistics, and improve efficiency in supporting global warfighter needs.
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AMARC becomes 309th AMARG in redesignation ceremony
Posted 5/3/2007 Updated 5/4/2007
by Theresa Vanden-Heuvel |
As missions grew more diverse—handling intercontinental ballistic missiles, satellite components, and rapid aircraft regeneration—the change reflected a shift toward a more agile, high-tech industrial group. It also addressed evolving post-Cold War demands, such as treaty compliance for arms reduction, by centralizing expertise under unified command.The change of command was administrative, involving the deactivation of AMARC as a standalone center and its realignment as a group subordinate to the 309th Maintenance Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
This transfer placed AMARG under the Ogden Air Logistics Complex (attached in 2012), ensuring oversight from a specialized maintenance hub without relocating the physical site.
2000s
With an accelerating move to more modern aircraft types, cost reductions for funding new technology and weapon systems, and aviation asset rationalization, the numbers of types retiring in their entirity was a theme during the mid-2020s.
2010s
2020s
- With the gradual introduction of the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker, between late 2020 and 2024 the entire fleet of Douglas KC-10 Extender fleet was retired. The final flight of the type was made by 79-1948 from Travis Air Force Base, CA. to Tucson on September 26th, 2024. Of the 60 that were produced 56 were retired to AMARG.
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