This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Ramstein Air Base | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC) | |||||||||
Near Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany | |||||||||
Coordinates | 49°26.21′N 007°36.02′E / 49.43683°N 7.60033°E | ||||||||
Type | US Air Force base | ||||||||
Area | 1,400 ha (3,500 acres) | ||||||||
Site information | |||||||||
Owner | German Federal Government | ||||||||
Operator | US Air Force | ||||||||
Controlled by | US Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa | ||||||||
Condition | Operational | ||||||||
Website | Official website | ||||||||
Site history | |||||||||
Built | 1949 | –1953||||||||
In use | 1953–present | ||||||||
Garrison information | |||||||||
Current commander | Brigadier General Otis C. Jones | ||||||||
Garrison | 86th Airlift Wing | ||||||||
Occupants |
| ||||||||
Airfield information | |||||||||
Identifiers | IATA: RMS, ICAO: ETAR | ||||||||
Elevation | 238 metres (781 ft) AMSL | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Sources: DoD FLIP[1] |
Ramstein Air Base (IATA: RMS, ICAO: ETAR) is a United States Air Force base located in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as the headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM). Ramstein is near the town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, which is situated outside the base's west gate, in the rural district of Kaiserslautern. The base supports forward elements deploying to Eastern Europe and Africa.
The construction of the air base was a project designed and undertaken by the French Army and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1949 to 1952.
Ramstein AB is part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC), where around 54,000 American service members and over 5,400 U.S. civilian employees live and work. U.S. organizations in the KMC also employ the services of more than 6,200 German workers. Air Force units in the KMC alone employ almost 9,800 military members, who are accompanied by nearly 11,100 family members. There are more than 16,200 military personnel, U.S. civilians, and U.S. contractors assigned to Ramstein AB alone.
The east gate of Ramstein Air Base is approximately 16 kilometres (10 mi; 9 nmi) from Kaiserslautern (locally referred to by Americans as "K-Town").[2][3] Other nearby civilian communities include Landstuhl, which is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi; 2.7 nmi) from the west gate.
'K-Town', as some call it, Kaiserslautern is known for being the largest American community in Europe.