Overview
- The Air Force held an inactivation ceremony on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, that retired the 355th Operations Group, 357th Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Generation Squadron and 355th Training Squadron at Davis‑Monthan AFB.
- Ceremonial guidons were rolled and cased, a two‑ship A‑10 flyover took place, and unit archives and memorabilia are being packed for transfer to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright‑Patterson AFB.
- The ceremony follows the base’s final A‑10 flight in July 2026 and earlier drawdown steps this year, which ended Davis‑Monthan’s long role in A‑10 pilot training and range operations.
- The Air Force’s May 2026 force‑structure plan calls for divesting 49 A‑10s in FY2027 and retiring the rest through 2030, but a bipartisan BRRRT bill in Congress would keep up to 126 A‑10s through FY2033 and restore training and sustainment capacity.
- The Air Force has not finalized where Davis‑Monthan’s remaining jets will go, the base’s next mission is unannounced, and local Airmen, retirees and community members face changes as A‑10 training consolidates to other bases such as Moody and Whiteman.