Рейн-Майн: История американской авиабазы в Германии

Closed United States Air Force Base in Germany

Rhein Main Air Base (located at ) was a United States Air Force air base near the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was a Military Airlift Command (MAC) and United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) installation, occupying the south side of Frankfurt Airport. Its military airport codes are discontinued. Established in 1945, Rhein Main Air Base was the primary airlift and passenger hub for USAFE. It was billed as the "Gateway to Europe". It closed on 30 December 2005. During its lifetime, the base's host airlift wing operated C 130 Hercules and Douglas C 9A Nightingale aircraft, as well as supporting many transient C 5 Galaxy, C 141 Starlifter, C 17 Globemaster III, KC 135 Stratotanker and KC 10 Extender flight operations each day. Daily or weekly contract air passenger flights were also conducted for United States personnel arriving in or leaving Europe.

The initial USAAF transport unit at Rhein Main was the 466th Air Service Group, activated on 20 November 1945. The 466th operated the aerial port, with a mixture of C 47 Skytrain, C 46 Commando, and C 54 Skymaster transport aircraft using the base for transport operations. The Rhein Main transport passenger and cargo terminal was completed in 1946, and air traffic into Rhein Main increased after the closure of the military passenger terminal at Orly Air Base, France, in March 1947, when the USAFE Eastern Air Transport Service opened its hub at Rhein Main. The 61st Troop Carrier Group was reassigned to Rhein Main on 30 September 1946 from nearby Eschborn Air Base and assumed control of the transport mission, carrying out routine transport operations from the base using C 47s and C 54s. Troop Carrier Squadrons of the 61st TCG were the 14th, 15th, and 53rd.

The ongoing dispute over Berlin strained relations between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies (United States, United Kingdom, France). On 24 June 1948, the Soviet Union blocked access to the three Western held sectors of Berlin, which lay deep within the Soviet controlled zone of Germany, by cutting off all rail and road routes going through Soviet controlled territory in Germany. The commander of the American occupation zone in Germany, General Lucius D. Clay, USA, gave the order on 25 June to launch a massive airlift using both civil and military aircraft. Rhein Main Air Base became the main American terminal in western Germany for the airlift. The aircraft of the 61st TCG participated using C 54 Skymasters to ferry coal, flour, and other cargo into West Berlin. Additional Troop Carrier Squadrons were assigned to the 61st group, these being the 20th, 48th, and 54th. On 19 November 1948, the 513th Troop Carrier Group (Special) was activated at Rhein Main Air Base to assist in the airlift, also using C 54s. Squadrons of the 513th were the 313th, 330th, 331st, 332d, and 333d. The Soviet Union lifted its blockade at 00:01, on 12 May 1949. However, the airlift did not end until 30 September, as the Western nations wanted to build up sufficient amounts of supplies in West Berlin in case the Soviets blockaded it again.

The U. S. staged Operation Provide Hope, a symbolic yet substantial airlift in February 1992 to the former Soviet Union, from Rhein Main AB. A closing ceremony to the airlift phase (a much larger ground phase of Operation Provide Hope began in the spring) was held in late February at Rhein Main AB, using a Russian Antonov An 124 cargo aircraft to transport the last shipment of air delivered supplies. On 1 April 1992 the 435th TAW was realigned from Military Airlift Command (MAC) to United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) and redesignated as the 435th Airlift Wing (435 AW). The 37th Tactical Airlift Squadron (37 TAS) became the 37th Airlift Squadron (37 AS) on the same date. At its peak, Rhein Main AB had a population of 10,000. However, by 1993, USAF officials announced the intent to downsize the base by half. On 1 July 1993, the 55th Aeromedical Airlift Squadron moved to Ramstein Air Base with its C 9A Nightingale aircraft. The 37th Airlift Squadron was subsequently reassigned to Ramstein on 1 October 1994. With these moves completed and most heavy Air Mobility Command (AMC) airlifters moving transcontinental cargo and passenger traffic to Ramstein and Spangdahlem Air Base, the stage was set for a complete closure in 2005. On 1 April 1995, the 435 AW was inactivated. The 435 AW was replaced by the 469th Air Base Group under USAFE and the 726th Air Mobility Squadron (726 AMS) under AMC. The 469 ABG inactivated on 10 October 2005. The 726th Air Mobility Squadron was the last unit at the base. From September 2001 until 2005, Rhein Main continued to provide support for transient C 130, C 141, C 17, C 5, KC 135, KC 10 and AMC chartered civilian airliners supporting both US military activities throughout Europe, as well as a waypoint for air mobility operations throughout Southwest Asia towards the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Although the major mission of Rhein Main Air Base was strategic and tactical airlift, the base also operated a substantial special operations mission. The 7406th Operations Squadron was activated at Rhein Main on 10 May 1955 and received its first aircraft (RB 50s) in March 1956. The RB 50s were replaced with specially configured C 130A II reconnaissance aircraft in 1958. The 7406th owned and maintained the aircraft and provided the flight crews. A separate USAF Security Service squadron provided the crew for the intelligence collection positions on the aircraft. One of these C 130s (56 0528) was shot down with the loss of a crew of seventeen over Yerevan, Soviet Armenia on 2 September 1958. Four Soviet MiG 17 pilots took turns firing on the unarmed C 130 when the American aircraft penetrated Soviet airspace while on a mission along the Turkish Armenian border. Between 5–10 June 1967, during the Arab Israeli Six Day War, the 7406th flew dangerous, unarmed missions over the battle gathering electronic intelligence data. The 7406th continued flying recon missions from Rhein Main in the C 130B models until 30 June 1973 when the squadron's sister Security Service flying squadron moved to Ellinikon International Airport, near Athens, Greece (known to the U. S. as Hellenikon AB). Operational missions were flown until 13 June 1974 from Greece when the unit was disbanded. The 7206th nomenclature continued, embodied in the 7206th Air Base Group which was a support group in Athens until 1993. Surveillance missions continued at Hellenikon under the auspices of the 6916th ESS. With the relocation of the 7406th to Greece, the 7th Special Operations Squadron was moved from Ramstein to Rhein Main as one of the units shuffled as part of Operation Creek Action. The 7406th's Hercules had been used for covert communications intelligence (COMINT) missions along the Eastern Bloc borders. The 7th SOS's MC 130Es, code named 'Combat Talon', were no less mysterious and were also striking to look at with their matte black camouflage scheme and two large hooks on the nose. The 7th SOS's MC 130Es were spotted in every corner of Europe. The 7th SOS was reassigned to the 7575th Operations Group in 1977, and then to the 39th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Wing on 1 February 1987. It was relocated to RAF Alconbury in the United Kingdom in December 1992, coming under a different group in the process. The 7575th Operations Group operated at Rhein Main from 1 July 1977 to 31 March 1991. Initially, three unique units were assigned to the group: the 7405th Operations Squadron, the 7580th Operations Squadron, and the 7th Special Operations Squadron. The 7405th had recently moved from Wiesbaden Air Base and converted to flying heavily modified C 130E Hercules airlifters. The 7580th was staffed with electronic warfare officers and specialized aircraft maintenance personnel who flew in the back of or maintained the 7405th's aircraft. The mission of the 7405th and 7580th was to conduct covert reconnaissance flights through the West Berlin Air Corridor, also known as the Berlin corridors and control zone.

On 23 December 1999, the U. S. and German governments agreed to close the base. The last military passenger and cargo flights took place in late September 2005 and the base's formal closure ceremony took place on 10 October 2005. The final handover to the German government occurred on 30 December 2005 and the 726th AMS transferred to Spangdahlem Air Base. The Frankfurt Airport Authority has leveled the entire base, and in October 2015, commenced building a third passenger terminal (Terminal 3) and other airport facilities. In 2019, it became known that excavated soil from the construction site for Terminal 3 was contaminated with PFAS chemicals with the volume of polluted soil being approximately 600,000 cubic metres. It was considered highly probable that the contamination originated with firefighting foams which had been used by the USAFE, primarily for training purposes.