The Second Great Depression was the emergency Davis-Monthan Air Force Base was built to serve. No one knew that when it was built, but the Boneyard of retired aircraft it housed would become the arsenal of freedom for the Republic of Texas. Some uncharitable souls would say they plundered the base. Texas called it Operation Finders Keepers. The United States had closed the base. The United States had stopped paying the private security watching the base. There was nobody in position to keep the old war machines from falling into the wrong hands. It was clearly their patriotic duty to rescue any serviceable craft and parts before someone with ill intent used them against America. The federal government did not see it the same way, of course, but they did not have the resources to stop Texas from taking everything they thought they could possibly use. And Texans have a reputation for thinking they can use a great deal more than others think they can.