Why do we have "the boneyard? "

TSgt Joshua Copeland — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 23:10:01 -0500

This is one reason!

A B-52H Stratofortress takes off after being taken out of long term storage Feb. 13, 2015, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. The aircraft was decommissioned in 2008 and has spent the last seven years sitting in the “Boneyard,” but was selected to be returned to active status and will eventually rejoin the B-52 fleet. The B-52 was flown by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Greg Steele)

This bird is now sitting on the ramp down the street from my house.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-ghost-rider-b-52-rises-from-the-grave-to-ride-aga [login to see]

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 20 at 2015 11:19 PM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 23:19:39 -0500

They may be unnecessary to fill the current equipment needs of their service, and keeping them operational wouldn't be worth the cost of manpower and maintenance expenses. That's just a guess, but I'm betting it's relatively accurate.

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 21 at 2015 2:28 AM

Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 02:28:20 -0500

We signed the start treaty the only so many strategic bombers would be in active service. The Start treaty is so serious that Russia sends a delegation to verify that static displays are no longer flyable. I actually seen this once where Russian officers where inspecting the b-52 on display by the gate at Grand Forks. We also do the same thing with theirs as well.

We mothball them to be replacements when one becomes unserviceable or is lost. Back in 2008 we lost a b-52 in the pacific near Guam. We lost a B-2 in Guam after takeoff the crew bailed out of the 2 billion dollar plane. We can not build a new B-2 since all of the tooling was scrapped. There has not been tooling available to make a B-52 since the late 60's. So we can take a mothballed bomber that had relatively low flying hours because it sat on a ramp most its life on alert and bring it back to service for a one to one swap.

At some point the B-2 will be past it's service life due to the amount of missions they have flown in the past 30 years which is why it will retire sometime in the next decade. When that happens we will have more than triple the amount of of BUFFs that we will be able to legally reconstitute to fly another 50 years.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 21 at 2015 5:30 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 05:30:50 -0500

Beautiful!!!! Another weapon that should remain in the USAF Arsenal for many years.....right alongside the C-130 and A-10.. .

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Feb 21 at 2015 10:25 AM

SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 10:25:56 -0500

TSgt Joshua Copeland, another persons junk is somebody's else paradise. Is the way in the U. S. Army Transportation Corps. Make "waste do with haste". When I was in Iraq, it was how we made mission and did our jobs driving M915s all over Iraq/Kuwait from 2003-2005. The Outlaw days of the War. Simply you just had to survive, boneyards were our bedrock to success, because the system was backlog(maintenance). O2 priority parts took forever and on a seniority basis.

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made Feb 21 at 2015 8:59 PM

TSgt Joshua Copeland — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 20:59:28 -0500

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/21/us/arizona-b-52-restored/index.html

'Ghost Rider' B-52 rises from Boneyard - CNN.com

For the first time ever, the U.S. Air Force has resurrected a B-52 bomber that had been in long-term storage at The Boneyard.

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made Feb 22 at 2015 5:37 PM

TSgt Joshua Copeland — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 17:37:37 -0500

http://www.barksdale.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123439607

Resurrection of the Ghost Rider

After almost seven years of slumber, a sleeping giant awakened in the Arizona desert. It prepared to take flight Friday the 13th from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, on a historic journey to resume the mission for which it was created; provide strategic long-range bomber support anywhere in the world,