MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- The 71st and 41st Rescue Generation Squadrons inactivated and the 723d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron reactivated during a ceremony at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, June 15, 2026.
The reactivation showcases maintenance operations in support of the rescue mission under a singular aircraft maintenance squadron, while preserving the heritage of the 723d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Although the unit designation has changed, the mission remains the same. Airmen assigned to the 723d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron will continue performing aircraft maintenance to support rescue operations.
“Readiness looks exactly the same as it did today, last week, last year under the Generation Squadron concept,” said Maj. Stephen Cox, 71st Rescue Generation Squadron commander. “We’ll still get after the mission, we will still answer the call.”
The transition keeps experienced maintainers focused on the rescue mission while supporting continued readiness and aircraft maintenance operations.
“We still have identity, still have our individual missions, but they are symbiotic,” said Major Jarrett McGinness, 723d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander. "We're reunifying our Rescue Generation Squadron into a larger organization that will have a centralized chain of command while still supporting the individual Aircraft Maintenance Units and Helicopter Maintenance Units.”
As the 71st and 41st Rescue Generation Squadrons furled their guidons and the 723d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron unfurled its guidon, the ceremony marked a continued commitment to the rescue mission.
"Organizational changes come and go, but our responsibility to the mission never changes,” said Col. Nathan Hier, 23d Maintenance Group commander. “The Airmen of the 723d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron will continue ensuring our rescue forces have the aircraft they need to train, deploy and execute operations anywhere in the world."
The reactivation of the 723d Aircraft Maintenance Squadron ensures maintainers remain postured to support the rescue mission while carrying forward a lineage that has played a critical role in Air Force rescue operations for decades.