Commemorative Air Force

Commemorative Air Force, operating as Ghost Squadron, is a Dallas, Texas-based tax-exempt nonprofit organization that provides restored World War II-era military aircraft for aerial demonstrations, static displays, pyrotechnic shows, and ground support services to the Department of Defense as a prime contractor (100% of awards), competing exclusively through full-and-open procurement with no set-aside designations across its entire portfolio.

Commemorative Air Force operates a fleet of vintage warbirds including B-25 Mitchell bombers, P-51 Mustang fighters, P-40 Warhawks, B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, C-47 transport aircraft, and other WWII-era aircraft that it maintains, restores, and flies for military community engagement, air show performances, and educational exhibitions. The organization's core federal work centers on air show support contracts—purchase orders and delivery orders that fund aerial acts, pyrotechnic displays featuring replica Japanese aircraft and ground-based ordnance, static aircraft displays, marshalling and ground-handling services, fuel and oil supply, and specialized flight training and support services. Recent representative work includes a $60,240 firm-fixed-price purchase order from Air Education and Training Command (awarded May 1, 2026) for a Tora Tora Tora air show performance with up to eight replica Japanese aircraft and pyrotechnics at Randolph AFB; a $509,000 delivery order from Air Force Materiel Command (August 20, 2025) for B-25 Mitchell aircraft support under a five-year single-award indefinite-delivery contract valued at $2.88 million (through August 2030); and a $173,060 purchase order from Air Force Materiel Command for DC-3 flight support and training services at Edwards AFB through December 2024.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted to the Department of the Air Force across its major commands. Air Education and Training Command leads by award count with 113 purchase orders valued at $1.4 million combined potential value, followed closely by Air Combat Command with 101 awards at $1.2 million and Air Materiel Command with 30 awards anchoring $5.5 million of the portfolio's total combined potential value. The top five Air Force customers account for approximately 71% of all awards and 84% of combined dollars. Outside the Air Force, Commemorative Air Force has received smaller volumes of awards from Pacific Air Forces, Navy Installations Command, Navy Reserve, and District Washington (Joint Base Andrews). The organization holds a primary indefinite-delivery contract with Air Force Materiel Command (FA930425D5019) for B-25 support services at the Test Pilot School/Qualified Evaluator Program at Edwards AFB valued at $509,000 in ceiling and generating multiple delivery orders; secondary IDIQs with Air Force Materiel Command include vehicles for DC-3 warbirds flight training and general warbirds queen bee operations.

Activity has ranged between 30 and 46 awards per year over the past five years, with 563 total prime awards recorded in the source data since 1997, generating $11.8 million in combined potential value. Sixty-nine percent of that potential value has been obligated. Recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months is minimal—only one award with $509,000 combined potential value completing in the window. The vendor's award portfolio is categorized primarily as "All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries" (217 awards) and "Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers" (113 awards) under NAICS, with secondary concentrations in "Other Spectator Sports" (54 awards) and "Museums" (36 awards); PSC coding emphasizes Social-Recreational (343 awards) and Support-Professional/Other (74 awards).

Commemorative Air Force operates with no named subcontractors in its federal award footprint; 100% of its federal contracts are prime awards. The organization competes as a single-entity prime across all Air Force commands without reliance on teaming arrangements or subcontract leverage. Its governance structure lists Commemorative Air Force itself as both parent and subsidiary, reflecting the organization's incorporation and operational unity under the single Ghost Squadron operating name.