Hahn Air Base
Encyclopedia
Hahn Air Base was a frontline NATO facility in Germany for over 40 years during the Cold War
(former ICAO
EDAH, now EDFH as Frankfurt-Hahn Airport). It is located 10 km (6.2 mi) from the town of Kirchberg and 20 km (12.4 mi) from the town of Simmern
, and 2 km from the tiny village of Hahn
in the Rhein-Hunsrück district of Rhineland-Palatinate
in west-central Germany.
It was the home of the United States Air Force
50th Fighter Wing (in various designations) for most of those years as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe
(USAFE). It was one of several USAFE bases in Germany (Zweibrucken Air Base
, Ramstein
, Sembach, Bitburg
, Spangdahlem
, and Rhein-Main
) all within 100 km (62.1 mi) of each other. Beyond their location in the heart of US troop concentrations, these air bases were well situated to reach all locations within Europe and the Mediterranean region.
Base facilities then consisted of pre-fabricated barrack buildings, heated by coke-burning pot belly stoves, outdoor latrines, and tents for motorpool personnel to work in. An L-5B was the first aircraft assigned to Hahn to fill administrative flight requirements.
With most of the construction completed by mid-1953, the primary mission of the Hahn Air Base was the reception of the 50th Fighter Bomber Wing. The aircraft was deployed to Hahn from Clovis AFB
New Mexico
during Operation Fox Able 20 on 10 August 1953. This marked the first mass flight of an entire tactical wing from the U.S. to continental Europe.
The operational squadrons of the 50th FBW were:
The 417th FBS was commanded for a time by Chuck Yeager
.
The 81st flew the North American F-86F Sabre
, with squadron markings of dark blue for the 10th, yellow for the 81st and red for the 417th. The wing conducted tactical operations in support of USAF, NATO, and U.S. Army forces. In the autumn of 1955, the wing was upgraded to the F-86H.
The primary mission of the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing was the delivery of tactical nuclear weapons against Warsaw Pact
forces in the event of an invasion of Western Europe. Its secondary missions were tactical air defense and support for NATO ground forces.
Due to the vulnerability of West Germany to Soviet attack, USAF planners did not want their tactical nuclear weapons in locations that could be quickly overrun by Warsaw Pact forces. When construction was completed at Toul-Rosières Air Base
France, the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing was moved there on 17 July 1956.
from Hamilton AFB California
arrived at Hahn flying the North American F-86D Sabre to stand air defence alert. Although based at Hahn, the 496th FIS was assigned to the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing at Ramstein Air Base
.
The squadron won the Hughes Trophy as the best fighter-interceptor squadron in the USAF in 1955. It stood alert and deployed regularly to Wheelus Air Base
, Libya
, for rocketry practice. Later added other European bases as weapons training deployments.
On 10 December 1959 the 496th was upgraded to the Convair F-102A/TF-102B "Delta Dagger"
. The 496th was the second European squadron, after the 525th FIS at Bitburg Air Base
to receive the F-102. With the transition to the F-102, the 496th operated under the USAFE 86th Air Division (Defence) at Ramstein Air Base
West Germany
on 1 July 1960. This transfer was made in order that all USAF fighter assets in Europe could be concentrated in one command. The squadron remained attached to the 86th AD until the F-102s were withdrawn from Europe and it was transferred to the 50th TFW on 25 November 1968.
With the move of the F-86s to France, the 7425th Air Base Group became the "parent" organization at Hahn, providing support for the following units:
Note: 701st TMW deactivated on 18 June 1958. Groups transferred to 38th TMW. Each of these tactical missile groups had several missile squadrons for operations, support and maintenance.
On 3 August 1956 the 701st Tactical Missile Wing, equipped with the Martin TM-61A "Matador"
cruise missile, was activated Hahn. This was the first U.S. Air Force tactical missile wing.
On 18 June 1958 The 38th Tactical Missile Wing replaced the 701st TMW at Hahn, being transferred from Laon-Couvron Air Base
France. The 38th was headquartered at Sembach Air Base and was composed of launch and maintenance squadrons at Hahn and Bitburg Air Base
s. Along with the Matador, the 38th TMW had the distinction of bringing the Martin MGM-13A Mace
missile operational in August 1959, while maintaining the Matador combat ready until September 1962.
The mission of the 701st and 38th TMW was the dispersal and maintenance these cruise missiles. These were the first operational surface-to-surface missiles built by the United States, similar in concept to the World War II German V-1 flying bomb
. Both the Mace and Matador missiles were designed to carry a conventional or nuclear warhead.
In 1959 disagreements arose concerning atomic weapons storage and custody issues within NATO, resulting in a decision to remove United States Air Force atomic-capable units from the French soil, and it was decided to move the 50th Tactical Fighter Wing from Toul AB back to Hahn. In August 1960, a few months prior to the return of the 50th from France, the 38th Tactical Missile Wing was transferred to Sembach Air Base.
On 10 December 1960, the 50 TFW redeployed back to Hahn, now flying the North American F-100 Super Sabre
. Rather than accompanying the wing at Hahn AB, however, the 417th TFS relocated to Ramstein AB, West Germany. Squadrons of the 50th TFW were:
For the next several years, 50th TFW Airmen concentrated on becoming the best fighter unit in USAFE. The 50th TFW supported and controlled CONUS dual-based fighter squadrons at Hahn and at other collocated operating bases in West Germany and Denmark.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis
, which began on 22 October 1962, the 435th Tactical Fighter Squadron deployed from Morón Air Base
Spain to Hahn. Although the crisis officially ended on 26 November 1962, the 435th TFS did not return to Morón until 11 December 1962. After the Cuban Missile Crisis ended, the 50th TFW resumed normal operations and participated in various exercises and competitions, often with other NATO allies.
The wing's three tactical squadrons, the 10th, 81st, and 417th, began converting to the McDonnell-Douglas F-4D Phantom II
on 8 October 1966. When the last F-100 left Hahn, 50th TFW aircrews had logged 143,147 flight hours. Throughout the conversion to the F-4D, 417th TFS remained detached to the 86th Air Division at Ramstein AB. With the change of equipment, the squadrons of the 50th TFW adopted "Tail Codes". The aircraft of 50th TFW were tail-coded "HR". The 496th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, attached to the 50th TFW but assigned to the 86th Air Division, did not convert to the new F-4D aircraft.
The wing underwent a major organizational change on 15 July 1968 when the 417th TFS was transferred to the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
as part of project CRESTED CAP. That project provided for the redeployment of specified U.S. European Air Force units to the United States on a semi-permanent basis. Not long after leaving Europe, the 417th returned for 45 days to Hahn in January 1969 to participate in Exercise CRESTED CAP I, the first in a series of exercises designed to test the mobility of NATO-committed fighter squadrons based in the U.S. under simulated wartime conditions.
Also in 1968, USAFE redesignated 496th FIS as a tactical fighter squadron. To replace the 417th, USAFE reassigned the 496th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron from the 86th AD to the 50th TFW under a reorganization that officially dissolved the 86th Air Division. In 1970, the 496th sent its F-102s back to Air National Guard squadrons in the United States and received F-4E aircraft. The 496th was redesignated as a Tactical Fighter Squadron while retaining its Air Defence mission. 496th TFS F-4Es were tail coded "HS".
In August 1970, the wing switched to a strike-attack role, with air defense as a secondary mission. The 81st TFS relacted to Zweibrucken Air Base
on 12 June 1971, although it remained a part of the 50th TFW. At Zweibrucken however, the 81st TFS was detached from the wing's operational control and attached to the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing. Eventually, the 81st was transferred to the 52nd TFW at Spangdahlem Air Base, and equipped with F-4G Wild Weasel aircraft, after they became available in 1975/76.
In June 1972 "HR" was adopted as the standard tail code for all 50th TFW aircraft.
Following these changes, the 50th TFW settled into a more routine operations tempo and returned its attentions to maintaining combat readiness.
In 1976, Hahn began receiving brand-new 74-XXXX F-4E TISEO-equipped aircraft, replacements for some of the old F-4Ds. At the beginning of 1977, the rest of the F-4Ds departed, replaced by F-4Es from Bitburg's 36th TFW, necessitated by that wing's conversion to F-15As.
Its operational squadrons in 1977 were:
The tail-stripe (and wingtip) color choices were a great controversy between maintenance and ops at this time. The 313th (whose unit crest is predominantly orange) wanted the planes they used striped in orange. Maintenance ("We just loan them to the crews, and hope they don't break OUR aircraft too much") wouldn't hear of it. The tails stayed white in white section, serving the 313th TFS aircrews.
The tiny Hahn Air Base (smallest of any fighter base in Germany) became the world's busiest airfield for ten days in April 1977,
during an Air Staff-directed exercise named Salty Rooster. During that time, the wing produced more than 2100 combat-loaded sorties, (refueled, rearmed, and serviced), averaging one takeoff every three minutes around the clock for ten days, using only 64 aircraft.
During this period, at least one Hahn squadron was almost constantly deployed to either Zaragoza AB, Spain, or Incirlik CDI, Turkey. Additional tasking provided a short deployment to Shiraz AB, Iran in 1977; this became noteworthy in another way, when 496th TFS aircraft appeared on the front page of the Air Force Times, being refueled from an Imperial Iranian Air Force KC-747, one of only two in the world.
The enormously-successful F-4 era at Hahn began to come to a close late in 1979, when it was announced that the wing's F-4s would be replaced by F-16s. By May 1980, two F-16As (apparently on loan from Hill AFB, Utah) were in use at Hahn for ground-handling familiarization of crew chiefs.
An equipment change began on 30 December 1981 when the first General Dynamics Block 15 F-16A/B Fighting Falcon
arrived at Hahn. The 50th TFW was the first USAFE wing to receive the F-16. Throughout the spring of 1982 the 10th, 313th and 496th converted to the new aircraft, with the last F-4E leaving the wing on 21 June 1982. In 1986, the first-generation F-16A/B aircraft were upgraded to the more capable Block 25 F-16C/D.
In addition, Hahn supported preparations for ground launched cruise missile activities at Wüschheim, between 1982 and 1985. It also supported the reactivated 38th Tactical Missile Wing beginning on 1 April 1985. The 38th TMW was deployed with The General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas BGM-109G "Gryphon" Ground-launched Cruise Missile (GLCM)
. By 1987 the 38th maintained ninety-six GLCMs. However, in December 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which eliminated intermediate and short-range nuclear missiles from Europe. This was the first nuclear force reduction in history. A three-year withdrawal of the GLCMs was undertaken in 1988 and the 38th TMW was deactivated in August 1990.
During Operation Desert Storm, the 50th TFW provided personnel, munitions, and equipment to support the liberation of Kuwait
, also deploying the 10th TFS to Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates
from December 1990 to May 1991.
Hahn's relative remoteness, horrible weather, and the strenuous mission fostered a closeness among the American community there regardless of time frame. Thousands of former Hahn residents remember their experiences there and friendships formed with a reverence not matched by those American GI's stationed at other overseas locations. This is evidenced by the many Internet member groups made up of former "Hahnites." Various reunions are held annually where those with special affection for their time at Hahn AB share experiences ranging from life on the flight line, Mosel winefests, Hahn Hawks football games in the fog, Volksmarching, living on base or in tiny German villages, Salty Nation exercises, and the ever present "do you remember that time..." and "did you know..." questions. For many, many American GI's and their dependents memories of life at Hahn take on a cherished, never to be forgotten quality.
, Hahn Air Base supported more than 13,000 people and three squadrons of F-16 tactical fighters. When the Cold War threat of an invasion of West Germany subsided, the United States was left with a huge excess capacity of expensive airfields in Europe.
As a result, the 50th TFW was inactivated in 1991 after 35 years at Hahn. The 496th TFS was inactivated on 15 May; The 313th TFS on 1 July, and the 10th TFS on 30 September. The 50th Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated on 30 September 1991. On 30 January 1992 the 50th was activated as the 50th Space Wing
at Falcon (later, Schriever) AFB
, Colorado
.
On 30 September 1993, most of Hahn Air Base was returned to civil German authorities but USAFE retained a small portion as a communications site.
The German government decided to turn the former NATO airfield into a civil airport. One of the main investors in the development of the new Frankfurt-Hahn Airport was Fraport AG, which primarily runs Frankfurt International Airport
, the aim being to reduce the amount of traffic using that airport.
The faculty and police training school of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Police
were combined at a new joint facility located at the air base's former housing area in 1996.
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
(former ICAO
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
EDAH, now EDFH as Frankfurt-Hahn Airport). It is located 10 km (6.2 mi) from the town of Kirchberg and 20 km (12.4 mi) from the town of Simmern
Simmern
Simmern is a town of 8,000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde...
, and 2 km from the tiny village of Hahn
Hahn, Rhineland-Palatinate
-History:Within Hahn’s municipal limits are traces of Roman and Frankish settlement. The placename Hahn, originally written Hagene , and later also Haan, Han, Hane, and Hain, originally meant, according to the Rhenish toponym researcher Heinrich Dittmaier, “wattled fence”, then later “enclosed...
in the Rhein-Hunsrück district of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
in west-central Germany.
It was the home of the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
50th Fighter Wing (in various designations) for most of those years as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe
United States Air Forces in Europe
The United States Air Forces in Europe is the United States Air Force component of U.S. European Command, a Department of Defense unified command, and is one of two Air Force Major Commands outside of the continental United States, the other being the Pacific Air Forces...
(USAFE). It was one of several USAFE bases in Germany (Zweibrucken Air Base
Zweibrücken Air Base
Zweibrücken Air Base was a NATO air base in West Germany . It was located 35 miles SSW of Kaiserslautern and 2 miles mi SE of Zweibrücken. It was assigned to the Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Air Forces in Europe during its operational lifetime.The facility was closed in...
, Ramstein
Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation...
, Sembach, Bitburg
Bitburg Air Base
Bitburg Airport is a commercial airport serving Bitburg, a city in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. It is located 2 miles southeast of Bitburg, 20 miles north of Trier, and 135 miles west of Wiesbaden....
, Spangdahlem
Spangdahlem Air Base
Spangdahlem Air Base is a United States Air Force base located near the small German town of Spangdahlem, approximately 30 km NNE of the city of Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate.-Units:...
, and Rhein-Main
Rhein-Main Air Base
Rhein-Main Air Base was a U.S. Air Force / NATO military airbase near the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It occupied the south side of Frankfurt International Airport. Its airport codes are discontinued....
) all within 100 km (62.1 mi) of each other. Beyond their location in the heart of US troop concentrations, these air bases were well situated to reach all locations within Europe and the Mediterranean region.
History
In 1951, occupying French forces founded an air base on the site which about 40 years later would become Frankfurt-Hahn Airport. In September 1952, the United States took over the installation, and began to erect the seventh largest United States Air Force base in Europe and the second largest in Germany. The initial USAF unit at Hahn was the 7356th Air Base Group, whose mission was to get the base up and running and into an operational state.Base facilities then consisted of pre-fabricated barrack buildings, heated by coke-burning pot belly stoves, outdoor latrines, and tents for motorpool personnel to work in. An L-5B was the first aircraft assigned to Hahn to fill administrative flight requirements.
50th Fighter-Bomber Wing
Cannon Air Force Base
Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Force Special Operations Command ....
New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
during Operation Fox Able 20 on 10 August 1953. This marked the first mass flight of an entire tactical wing from the U.S. to continental Europe.
The operational squadrons of the 50th FBW were:
- 10th Fighter-Bomber10th Flight Test SquadronThe 10th Flight Test Squadron is part of the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It performs acceptance testing on refurbished B-1 Lancer, B-52 Stratofortress, E-3 Sentry, and KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft before they are returned to their...
(dark blue stripes) - 81st Fighter-Bomber81st Fighter SquadronThe 81st Fighter Squadron is part of the 52d Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. It operates the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft conducting close air support missions.-Mission:...
(yellow/black stripes) - 417th Fighter-Bomber (red stripes)
The 417th FBS was commanded for a time by Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
.
The 81st flew the North American F-86F Sabre
F-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America's first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War...
, with squadron markings of dark blue for the 10th, yellow for the 81st and red for the 417th. The wing conducted tactical operations in support of USAF, NATO, and U.S. Army forces. In the autumn of 1955, the wing was upgraded to the F-86H.
The primary mission of the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing was the delivery of tactical nuclear weapons against Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
forces in the event of an invasion of Western Europe. Its secondary missions were tactical air defense and support for NATO ground forces.
Due to the vulnerability of West Germany to Soviet attack, USAF planners did not want their tactical nuclear weapons in locations that could be quickly overrun by Warsaw Pact forces. When construction was completed at Toul-Rosières Air Base
Toul-Rosieres Air Base
Toul-Rosières Air Base is a reserve French Air Force base. It is located in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département of France, 10 miles northeast of the city of Toul, on the west side of the Route nationale 411 Highway about one mile southeast of Rosières-en-Haye.Toul Air Base was used by American...
France, the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing was moved there on 17 July 1956.
496th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
In August 1954 the Air Defense Command 496th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron496th Tactical Fighter Squadron
The 496th Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe, 50th Tactical Fighter Wing, being stationed at Hahn AB, Germany. The squadron was deactivated on May 15, 1991....
from Hamilton AFB California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
arrived at Hahn flying the North American F-86D Sabre to stand air defence alert. Although based at Hahn, the 496th FIS was assigned to the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing at Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation...
.
The squadron won the Hughes Trophy as the best fighter-interceptor squadron in the USAF in 1955. It stood alert and deployed regularly to Wheelus Air Base
Wheelus Air Base
-See also:*List of airports in Libya-External links:*****...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, for rocketry practice. Later added other European bases as weapons training deployments.
On 10 December 1959 the 496th was upgraded to the Convair F-102A/TF-102B "Delta Dagger"
F-102 Delta Dagger
The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was a US interceptor aircraft built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet bomber fleets...
. The 496th was the second European squadron, after the 525th FIS at Bitburg Air Base
Bitburg Air Base
Bitburg Airport is a commercial airport serving Bitburg, a city in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. It is located 2 miles southeast of Bitburg, 20 miles north of Trier, and 135 miles west of Wiesbaden....
to receive the F-102. With the transition to the F-102, the 496th operated under the USAFE 86th Air Division (Defence) at Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation...
West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
on 1 July 1960. This transfer was made in order that all USAF fighter assets in Europe could be concentrated in one command. The squadron remained attached to the 86th AD until the F-102s were withdrawn from Europe and it was transferred to the 50th TFW on 25 November 1968.
7425th Air Base Group
- 701st/38th Tactical Missile Wing
- 585th Tactical Missile Group (Bitburg AB)
- 586th Tactical Missile Group (Hahn AB)
- 587th Tactical Missile Group (Sembach AB)
Note: 701st TMW deactivated on 18 June 1958. Groups transferred to 38th TMW. Each of these tactical missile groups had several missile squadrons for operations, support and maintenance.
- 496th Fighter Interceptor Squadron
On 3 August 1956 the 701st Tactical Missile Wing, equipped with the Martin TM-61A "Matador"
MGM-1 Matador
The Martin MGM-1 Matador was the first operational surface-to-surface cruise missile built by the United States. It was similar in concept to the German V-1, but the Matador included a radio link that allowed in-flight course corrections. This allowed accuracy to be maintained over greatly extended...
cruise missile, was activated Hahn. This was the first U.S. Air Force tactical missile wing.
On 18 June 1958 The 38th Tactical Missile Wing replaced the 701st TMW at Hahn, being transferred from Laon-Couvron Air Base
Laon-Couvron Air Base
Laon-Couvron Air Base is a former French and United States Air Force base in France. It is located in the Aisne département of France, less than one mile southeast of the village of Couvron and 6 miles northwest of Laon; on the southwest side of the Autoroute des Anglais 1 Mile east of the...
France. The 38th was headquartered at Sembach Air Base and was composed of launch and maintenance squadrons at Hahn and Bitburg Air Base
Bitburg Air Base
Bitburg Airport is a commercial airport serving Bitburg, a city in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. It is located 2 miles southeast of Bitburg, 20 miles north of Trier, and 135 miles west of Wiesbaden....
s. Along with the Matador, the 38th TMW had the distinction of bringing the Martin MGM-13A Mace
MGM-13 Mace
-See also:-External links:* * * * * * *...
missile operational in August 1959, while maintaining the Matador combat ready until September 1962.
The mission of the 701st and 38th TMW was the dispersal and maintenance these cruise missiles. These were the first operational surface-to-surface missiles built by the United States, similar in concept to the World War II German V-1 flying bomb
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
. Both the Mace and Matador missiles were designed to carry a conventional or nuclear warhead.
In 1959 disagreements arose concerning atomic weapons storage and custody issues within NATO, resulting in a decision to remove United States Air Force atomic-capable units from the French soil, and it was decided to move the 50th Tactical Fighter Wing from Toul AB back to Hahn. In August 1960, a few months prior to the return of the 50th from France, the 38th Tactical Missile Wing was transferred to Sembach Air Base.
50th Tactical Fighter Wing
F-100 Super Sabre
The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of...
. Rather than accompanying the wing at Hahn AB, however, the 417th TFS relocated to Ramstein AB, West Germany. Squadrons of the 50th TFW were:
- 10th Tactical Fighter (F-100D/F) (blue tail stripes)
- 81st Tactical Fighter (F-100D/F) (yellow tail stripes)
- 417th Tactical Fighter (F-100D/F) (red tail stripes) (at Ramstein AB)
For the next several years, 50th TFW Airmen concentrated on becoming the best fighter unit in USAFE. The 50th TFW supported and controlled CONUS dual-based fighter squadrons at Hahn and at other collocated operating bases in West Germany and Denmark.
During the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
, which began on 22 October 1962, the 435th Tactical Fighter Squadron deployed from Morón Air Base
Morón Air Base
Morón Air Base is located at in southern Spain, approximately southeast of the city of Seville and northeast of Naval Station Rota. The base gets its name from the nearby town of Morón de la Frontera - although its is actually located in the municipality of Arahal.Morón's massive flight line,...
Spain to Hahn. Although the crisis officially ended on 26 November 1962, the 435th TFS did not return to Morón until 11 December 1962. After the Cuban Missile Crisis ended, the 50th TFW resumed normal operations and participated in various exercises and competitions, often with other NATO allies.
The wing's three tactical squadrons, the 10th, 81st, and 417th, began converting to the McDonnell-Douglas F-4D Phantom II
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
on 8 October 1966. When the last F-100 left Hahn, 50th TFW aircrews had logged 143,147 flight hours. Throughout the conversion to the F-4D, 417th TFS remained detached to the 86th Air Division at Ramstein AB. With the change of equipment, the squadrons of the 50th TFW adopted "Tail Codes". The aircraft of 50th TFW were tail-coded "HR". The 496th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, attached to the 50th TFW but assigned to the 86th Air Division, did not convert to the new F-4D aircraft.
The wing underwent a major organizational change on 15 July 1968 when the 417th TFS was transferred to the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
as part of project CRESTED CAP. That project provided for the redeployment of specified U.S. European Air Force units to the United States on a semi-permanent basis. Not long after leaving Europe, the 417th returned for 45 days to Hahn in January 1969 to participate in Exercise CRESTED CAP I, the first in a series of exercises designed to test the mobility of NATO-committed fighter squadrons based in the U.S. under simulated wartime conditions.
Also in 1968, USAFE redesignated 496th FIS as a tactical fighter squadron. To replace the 417th, USAFE reassigned the 496th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron from the 86th AD to the 50th TFW under a reorganization that officially dissolved the 86th Air Division. In 1970, the 496th sent its F-102s back to Air National Guard squadrons in the United States and received F-4E aircraft. The 496th was redesignated as a Tactical Fighter Squadron while retaining its Air Defence mission. 496th TFS F-4Es were tail coded "HS".
In August 1970, the wing switched to a strike-attack role, with air defense as a secondary mission. The 81st TFS relacted to Zweibrucken Air Base
Zweibrücken Air Base
Zweibrücken Air Base was a NATO air base in West Germany . It was located 35 miles SSW of Kaiserslautern and 2 miles mi SE of Zweibrücken. It was assigned to the Royal Canadian Air Force and the United States Air Forces in Europe during its operational lifetime.The facility was closed in...
on 12 June 1971, although it remained a part of the 50th TFW. At Zweibrucken however, the 81st TFS was detached from the wing's operational control and attached to the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing. Eventually, the 81st was transferred to the 52nd TFW at Spangdahlem Air Base, and equipped with F-4G Wild Weasel aircraft, after they became available in 1975/76.
In June 1972 "HR" was adopted as the standard tail code for all 50th TFW aircraft.
Following these changes, the 50th TFW settled into a more routine operations tempo and returned its attentions to maintaining combat readiness.
In 1976, Hahn began receiving brand-new 74-XXXX F-4E TISEO-equipped aircraft, replacements for some of the old F-4Ds. At the beginning of 1977, the rest of the F-4Ds departed, replaced by F-4Es from Bitburg's 36th TFW, necessitated by that wing's conversion to F-15As.
Its operational squadrons in 1977 were:
- 10th Tactical Fighter (F-4E, HR, blue tail stripe)
- 313th Tactical Fighter (F-4E, HR, white tail stripe)
- 496th Tactical Fighter (F-4E, HR, red tail stripe)
The tail-stripe (and wingtip) color choices were a great controversy between maintenance and ops at this time. The 313th (whose unit crest is predominantly orange) wanted the planes they used striped in orange. Maintenance ("We just loan them to the crews, and hope they don't break OUR aircraft too much") wouldn't hear of it. The tails stayed white in white section, serving the 313th TFS aircrews.
The tiny Hahn Air Base (smallest of any fighter base in Germany) became the world's busiest airfield for ten days in April 1977,
during an Air Staff-directed exercise named Salty Rooster. During that time, the wing produced more than 2100 combat-loaded sorties, (refueled, rearmed, and serviced), averaging one takeoff every three minutes around the clock for ten days, using only 64 aircraft.
During this period, at least one Hahn squadron was almost constantly deployed to either Zaragoza AB, Spain, or Incirlik CDI, Turkey. Additional tasking provided a short deployment to Shiraz AB, Iran in 1977; this became noteworthy in another way, when 496th TFS aircraft appeared on the front page of the Air Force Times, being refueled from an Imperial Iranian Air Force KC-747, one of only two in the world.
The enormously-successful F-4 era at Hahn began to come to a close late in 1979, when it was announced that the wing's F-4s would be replaced by F-16s. By May 1980, two F-16As (apparently on loan from Hill AFB, Utah) were in use at Hahn for ground-handling familiarization of crew chiefs.
An equipment change began on 30 December 1981 when the first General Dynamics Block 15 F-16A/B Fighting Falcon
F-16 Fighting Falcon
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force . Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,400 aircraft have been built since...
arrived at Hahn. The 50th TFW was the first USAFE wing to receive the F-16. Throughout the spring of 1982 the 10th, 313th and 496th converted to the new aircraft, with the last F-4E leaving the wing on 21 June 1982. In 1986, the first-generation F-16A/B aircraft were upgraded to the more capable Block 25 F-16C/D.
In addition, Hahn supported preparations for ground launched cruise missile activities at Wüschheim, between 1982 and 1985. It also supported the reactivated 38th Tactical Missile Wing beginning on 1 April 1985. The 38th TMW was deployed with The General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas BGM-109G "Gryphon" Ground-launched Cruise Missile (GLCM)
Ground Launched Cruise Missile
The Ground Launched Cruise Missile, or GLCM, was a ground-launched cruise missile developed by the United States Air Force in the last decade of the Cold War.-Overview:...
. By 1987 the 38th maintained ninety-six GLCMs. However, in December 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which eliminated intermediate and short-range nuclear missiles from Europe. This was the first nuclear force reduction in history. A three-year withdrawal of the GLCMs was undertaken in 1988 and the 38th TMW was deactivated in August 1990.
During Operation Desert Storm, the 50th TFW provided personnel, munitions, and equipment to support the liberation of Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, also deploying the 10th TFS to Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
from December 1990 to May 1991.
Hahn's relative remoteness, horrible weather, and the strenuous mission fostered a closeness among the American community there regardless of time frame. Thousands of former Hahn residents remember their experiences there and friendships formed with a reverence not matched by those American GI's stationed at other overseas locations. This is evidenced by the many Internet member groups made up of former "Hahnites." Various reunions are held annually where those with special affection for their time at Hahn AB share experiences ranging from life on the flight line, Mosel winefests, Hahn Hawks football games in the fog, Volksmarching, living on base or in tiny German villages, Salty Nation exercises, and the ever present "do you remember that time..." and "did you know..." questions. For many, many American GI's and their dependents memories of life at Hahn take on a cherished, never to be forgotten quality.
Post Cold War
At the end of the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, Hahn Air Base supported more than 13,000 people and three squadrons of F-16 tactical fighters. When the Cold War threat of an invasion of West Germany subsided, the United States was left with a huge excess capacity of expensive airfields in Europe.
As a result, the 50th TFW was inactivated in 1991 after 35 years at Hahn. The 496th TFS was inactivated on 15 May; The 313th TFS on 1 July, and the 10th TFS on 30 September. The 50th Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated on 30 September 1991. On 30 January 1992 the 50th was activated as the 50th Space Wing
50th Space Wing
The 50th Space Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force under the major command of Air Force Space Command . It was activated on 30 January 1992, replacing the 2d Space Wing, which was deactivated on the same date.-Overview:...
at Falcon (later, Schriever) AFB
Schriever Air Force Base
Schriever Air Force Base is a base of the United States Air Force located approximately 10 miles east of Peterson AFB near Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, United States.-Overview:...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
On 30 September 1993, most of Hahn Air Base was returned to civil German authorities but USAFE retained a small portion as a communications site.
The German government decided to turn the former NATO airfield into a civil airport. One of the main investors in the development of the new Frankfurt-Hahn Airport was Fraport AG, which primarily runs Frankfurt International Airport
Frankfurt International Airport
Frankfurt am Main Airport , or simply Frankfurt Airport, known in German as Flughafen Frankfurt am Main or Rhein-Main-Flughafen, is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, Germany, southwest of the city centre....
, the aim being to reduce the amount of traffic using that airport.
The faculty and police training school of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Police
Rheinland-Pfalz State Police
Rhineland-Palatinate Police numbers approx. 9,000 police officers. The five regional police authorities are headquartered in Koblenz, Trier, Mainz, Kaiserslautern and Ludwigshafen ....
were combined at a new joint facility located at the air base's former housing area in 1996.
See also
- Frankfurt International AirportFrankfurt International AirportFrankfurt am Main Airport , or simply Frankfurt Airport, known in German as Flughafen Frankfurt am Main or Rhein-Main-Flughafen, is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, Germany, southwest of the city centre....