The 86th Airlift Wing (86 AW) is a United States Air Force wing, currently assigned to the Third Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. The 86th AW is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
The wing's primary mission is to conduct air transport, airdrop and aeromedical evacuation operations flying the C-21A, C-37A and C-130J aircraft. The 86th Airlift Wing commander also serves as the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC) commander, leading the largest American community outside the United States.
Originally the 86th Fighter Wing was established and activated on 1 July 1948 at Neubiberg AB, Germany.
Units The 86th Airlift Wing is currently made up of: 86th Operations Group (86 OG) 37th Airlift Squadron (37 AS) 76th Airlift Squadron (76 AS) 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron (86 AES) 86th Operations Support Squadron (86 OSS) 424th Air Base Squadron (424 ABS) (Chièvres Air Base, Belgium) 86th Maintenance Group (86 MXG) 86th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (86 AMXS) 86th Maintenance Squadron (86 MXS) 86th Logistics Readiness Group (86 LRG) 86th Logistics Readiness Squadron (86 LRS) 86th Material Maintenance Squadron (86 MMS) 86th Munitions Squadron (86 MUNS) 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron (86 VRS) 86th Mission Support Group (86 MSG) 86th Communications Squadron (86 CS) 86th Force Support Squadron (86 FSS) 86th Security Forces Squadron (86 SFS) 569th US Forces Police Squadron (569 USFPS) 700th Contracting Squadron (700 CONS) 786th Force Support Squadron (786 FSS) 86th Medical Group (86 MDG) 86th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron (86 OMRS) 86th Dental Squadron (86 DS) 86th Healthcare Operations Squadron (86 HCOS) 86th Medical Support Squadron (86 MDSS) 86th Medical Squadron (86 MDS) 86th Civil Engineer Group (86 CEG) 86th Civil Engineer Squadron (86 CES) 786th Civil Engineer Squadron (786 CES) 65th Air Base Group (65 ABG) (Lajes Field, Portugal) 65th Air Base Squadron (65 ABS) 65th Civil Engineer Squadron (65 CES) 65th Communications Squadron (65 CS) 65th Comptroller Squadron (65 CPTS) 65th Force Support Squadron (65 FSS) 65th Logistics Readiness Squadron (65 LRS) 65th Operations Support Squadron (65 OSS) 65th Security Forces Squadron (65 SFS) 496th Air Base Squadron (496 ABS) (Morón Air Base, Spain)
History The 86th Fighter Group fought against Germany during the Second World War.
The 86th Fighter Wing was established and activated on 1 July 1948 at Neubiberg AB, Germany. Its initial mission was to provide air defense, primarily in West Germany with its flying group, the 86th FG.
Equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts, the wing was one of two active USAF fighter units in Germany (the other being the 36th FG) during the immediate postwar years. Over the next several years, the 86th underwent several redesignations and several station assignments in occupied Germany. In June 1948, the 86th Fighter Wing was stationed at Neubiberg Air Base, near Munich when tensions with the Soviet Union culminated in the Berlin Blockade.
With the arrival of the jet age in Europe, USAFE wanted to move its units west of the Rhine River, as its bases in the Munich area were just a few minutes flying time from Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 bases in Czechoslovakia. In February 1951, the United States and France signed an agreement in which USAF bases in their German occupation zone would be built and made available to USAFE. In late 1952, enough construction was completed at Landstuhl and the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to the new base.
The 86th Wing (under various designations) has been assigned to Ramstein for almost 60 years, with a brief period (1966–1973) being inactive or assigned to Zweibrücken Air Base.
In March 1958 the 86th Fighter-Bomber Group was inactivated and its operational squadrons were assigned to the Wing. In May, the 406th FIW at RAF Manston, England was inactivated. Its three F-86D squadrons, the 512th, 513th and 514th were reassigned to bases on the continent and were also assigned to the 86th. These squadrons were detached to the following bases: 512th FIS to Sembach Air Base, Germany 513th FIS to Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base France 514th FIS to Ramstein (Blue tail stripes)
86th Air Division (Defense) In January 1959 the 525th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Bitburg received its first Convair F-102 Delta Dagger, designed to upgrade the air defense capabilities of Western Europe. HQ USAFE decided to upgrade the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing and centralize command of all the European Air Defense squadrons in USAFE to it. With this change, the 86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing was redesignated the 86th Air Division (Defense) on 18 November 1960.
However at the time of their arrival in Europe, the F-102 was already being replaced by the McDonnell F-101B Voodoo and the Convair F-106 Delta Dart in the Aerospace Defense Command as an interceptor, and by much more versatile McDonnell F-4 Phantom II. On 14 November 1968 the 86th Air Division was inactivated.
86th Tactical Fighter Wing
In 1968 the Canadian Armed Forces announced they were downsizing their forces in Europe, and Canada's No. 3 (F) Wing left Zweibrücken Air Base, leaving the base available for USAFE. On 1 November 1969, the Air Force reactivated the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing at Zweibrücken.
It received its first flying unit, the 17th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, on 12 January 1970. The 17th TRS and its McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom IIs was reassigned to the 86th TFW from the inactivating 66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at RAF Upper Heyford, England. Squadron tail code for the 17th TRS was initially "ZS", then was recoded to "ZR" in 1971.
For 18 months the 17th was the only operational squadron on the base. On 12 June 1971, the 81st Tactical Fighter Squadron with its Electronics Counter-Measures (ECM) equipped McDonnell EF-4C Phantom II "Wild Weasel" fighters was attached to the 86th TFW from the 50th TFW at Hahn AB when the 50th switched to a strike-attack role, with air defense as a secondary mission. (Note: The EF-4C designation was not official. The aircraft were officially F-4C models). The 81st TFS, however remained a part of the 50th TFW but was detached from the wing's operational control and attached to the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing for support. Squadron tail code for the 81st TFS was "ZS".
In 1972, tail codes for all 86th TFW aircraft at Zweibrücken were standardized as "ZR", per AFM 66–1, when squadron tail codes were eliminated.
However, with these reconnaissance aircraft at Zweibrücken the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing's designation did not coincide with the wing's mission. The name issue was resolved as part of a USAFE command-wide effort to realign functions and streamline operations called Creek Action.
On 15 January 1973, the 81st TFS was reassigned to Spangdahlem Air Base under operation "Battle Creek". The last of this variant of the Phantom returned to the US in 1979/1980 and was replaced by the F-4G Wild Weasel at Spangdahlem.
In addition, USAFE transferred the 26 TRW from Ramstein to Zweibrücken Air Base, Germany, and the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) from Zweibrücken back to Ramstein on 31 January 1973. These moves were made without the transfer of personnel or equipment with the exception of the 38 TRS, 7 SOS and 81 TFS. The 38th remained under the control of the 26 TRW by moving to Zweibrücken with the wing and the 7th Special Operations Squadron was transferred to Rhein-Main Air Base. The 526th TFS remained at Ramstein AB, and it was reassigned to the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying F-4Es. Its tail code was "RS".
On 22 September 1977 the newly activated 512th TFS was equipped with the 526 TFS aircraft and the 526 TFS received new planes from McDonnell Douglas St. Louis plant. The unit was designated the 86th Tactical Fighter Group and was under the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing.
With these changes, the operational squadrons of the 86th TFW in 1978 were: 512th Tactical Fighter Squadron (F-4E, RS, green/black tail stripe) 526th Tactical Fighter Squadron (F-4E, RS, red/black tail stripe)
As the wing approached its fortieth year of service in Germany, the first F-16C Fighting Falcon arrived on 20 September 1985 and the 512th TFS converted to the General Dynamics Block 25 F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the 526th retired their F-4Es in June 1986, also receiving Block 25 F-16s. The 86th TFW supported numerous military units located in the area and participated in numerous exercises that provided the wing with air combat tactics training essential to their mission.
With the rest of the world, the members of the 86th watched the Communist Bloc countries of Eastern Europe with fascination as the events of the late 1989 unfolded. When the Berlin Wall finally began to come down on 9 November 1989 and the celebrations began, many members of the Ramstein community and 86th TFW went to Berlin to see the events and take pieces of the Wall.
The 86th TFW and Ramstein had just begun to absorb the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War when, in August 1990, the Iraqis invaded Kuwait. Under Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, much to the dismay of the 86th TFW personnel, their F-16s did not deploy to the Persian Gulf like so many of its USAFE counterparts. Instead, Ramstein became an intermediate support base for American forces deployed to the Persian Gulf and, on 10 August 1990, Ramstein began receiving MAC stage crews as the base became an overflow airfield for Rhein-Main AB, supporting strategic airlift traffic to the Persian Gulf.
In addition to serving as a central overflow hub for airlift traffic flying between the US and the Arabian Peninsula, Ramstein also established an intermediate engine repair facility for deployed F-16s, became a huge collection and distribution center for gulf-bound munitions, and on 15 January 1991, Ramstein AB's aeromedical staging facility activated a 150-bed hospital and blood transshipment center in Hangar 1. The hospital provided triage to its first patients from the Persian Gulf on the same day. Additionally, personnel from virtually every squadron augmented Air Force and Army units deployed to the gulf.
With the end of Operation Desert Storm, the 86th TFW deployed to Turkey and patrolled the Iraqi No-Fly Zone(s). From 6 April 1991, when the operation began, until September 1993 when its commitment ended, the wing flew nearly 5,000 sorties over Iraq. 526th TFS aircraft twice attacked Iraqi surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites in northern Iraq. For its participation in Provide Comfort, the 86th TFW received credit in a Joint Meritorious Unit Award, though the award did little to placate the wing personnel who felt they had "missed" the war.
On 1 May 1991, the 86th TFW was redesigned the 86th Fighter Wing and underwent a complete change in its organizational structure as a test base for the USAFE Corona South wing reorganization program, an effort to "flatten" command lines and consolidate span of control. Ramstein's 316th Air Division and 377th Combat Support Wing were inactivated and all of their former functions placed under the operational control of the 86th Fighter Wing. The lessons learned at Ramstein applied to other units Air Force-wide as they converted to the new organizational structure.
Conversion to an airlift wing
The end of the Cold War brought major force structure changes throughout the Air Force, and the 86th was no exception. On 1 June 1992, the 86th Fighter Wing, which had only been equipped with F-16s, began a slow move to airlift operations when the wing took over the 58th Airlift Squadron and its small executive fleet of C-12, C-20 Gulfstream, C-21 Lear Jet, CT-43 Bobcat, C-135, and UH-1 aircraft. After gaining this airlift mission, the wing changed its designation from the 86th Fighter Wing to the 86th Wing.