location for the 309 AMARG, Davis–Monthan AFB is the sole aircraft boneyard for excess military and U.S. government aircraft and other aerospace vehicles such as ballistic missiles. Tucson's dry climate and alkali soil make it an ideal location to store and preserve aircraft; more than 4,000 military aircraft are parked on the base. History The base was named in honor of World War I pilots Lieutenants Samuel H. Davis (1896–1921) and Oscar Monthan (1885–1924), both Tucson natives. Monthan enlisted in the Army as a private in 1917, was commissioned as a ground officer in 1918, and later became a pilot; he was killed in the crash of a Martin B2 bomber in Hawaii in 1924. Namesakes Samuel Howard Davis First Lieutenant Samuel Howard Davis (November 20, 1896 – December 28, 1921) was a pilot and United States Army Air Service officer. Born to Sam and Effie Davis in 1896 in Dyer County, Tennessee, Davis was known by his middle name, Howard. He attended public schools in Tucson. As a young man, his hobbies included horseback riding and shooting; he was a good marksman. Davis enrolled at Texas A&M College in 1915 as a student of mechanical engineering, having previously attended the University of Arizona in Tucson. After enlisting in the military in 1917, he was briefly assigned to Fort Hauchuca in Arizona before being transferred to College Station, Texas, to complete his academic studies. He returned to the military after graduation in 1918, assembling airplanes at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas. He trained pilots during the first World War, including some pilots who took down German planes. He reached the rank of Second Lieutenant. Davis was honorably discharged from the military about 1919 with the rank of First Lieutenant in the reserve corps. For a time he worked commercial aviation as a manager with the Arizona Aviation Company, where he piloted Orioles and standard manufacture airplanes. Davis married Marjorie Cameron of San Antonio in 1920. Davis returned to the Army Air Service in August 1921. He died in a military aircraft accident completing a training mission on December 28, 1921, while a passenger in a Curtiss JN-6 HG at Carlstrom Field, near Arcadia, Florida. One other person, William C. Sinclair, was also killed. They were hunting ducks at the time; Sinclair was piloting and Davis was shooting. After a funeral at the home of his parents, Davis was buried