Allied Air Forces Central Europe

Allied Air Forces Central Europe

Coat of arms
Active 1951-1993
Allegiance NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Part of Allied Command Operations, Casteau, Belgium
Location Ramstein, Germany

Allied Air Forces Central Europe (AAFCE) was the NATO command tasked with air and air defense operations in NATOs Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) area of command.

History

Allied Air Forces Central Europe was activated on 2 April 1951 at Fontainebleau in France through General Dwight D. Eisenhower's General Order No. 1.[1] The first commanding officer of AAFCE was U.S. Air Force general Lauris Norstad, commanding general of US Air Forces in Europe, Wiesbaden. AAFCE reported to Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) at Fontainebleau, which in turn reported to Allied Command Europe, headquartered at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Rocquencourt. The task of AAFCE was to control and command allied air assets in the NATO Central Region [of Europe] in wartime.

Flight magazine, in the first of a three-part feature on 26 June 1953, described AAFCE as already comprising two allied tactical air forces, Second Allied Tactical Air Force, under RAF Air Marshal Sir Robert Foster,[2] comprising British-Dutch No. 2 Group RAF, Belgian-Dutch 69 Group (which later issues described as being responsible for 'Low Countries Air Defence' and being alternately under Dutch and Belgian officers), and British-Belgian No. 83 Group RAF. Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force, under General Dean C. Strother (USAF), comprised the Twelfth Air Force, French 1er Air Division, and the Canadian No. 1 Air Division RCAF.[3]

Commanders 1951 - 1967

List of AAFCE commanders
# Name Country Service Duration
1 General Lauris Norstad  United States US Air Force 2 April 1951 – 16 July 1953
2 Air Chief Marshal Sir Basil Embry  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 16 July 1953 – 1 Jan 1956
3 Air Chief Marshal Sir George Mills  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 1 Jan 1956 – 20 May 1959
4 Air Chief Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 20 May 1959 – 1 March 1961
5 Air Chief Marshal The Earl of Bandon  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 1 March 1961 – 1 December 1963
6 Air Chief Marshal Sir Edmund Hudleston*  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 1 December 1963 – 1 March 1967
Deputy C-in-C AFCENT
# Name Country Service Duration
7 Air Chief Marshal Sir Augustus Walker  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 1 March 1967 – 13 April 1970
8 Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick Rosier  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 13 April 1970 – 31 September 1973
9 Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 31 September 1973 – 5 February 1976

At Ramstein 1974- 1993

On 28 June 1974 Headquarters Allied Air Forces Central Europe (AAFCE) was re-established as an independent headquarters at Ramstein Air Base, Germany as one of three principal subordinate command under Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT).[5] Its task was to provide central direction and control for NATO air forces in the European Central Region. Two existing headquarters, Second Allied Tactical Air Force (2 ATAF), based at RAF Rheindahlen, which covered the northern part of the region, and Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force (4 ATAF), based at Heidelberg, which was responsible for the southern part, both came under AAFCE's command.

Second Allied Tactical Air Force (2 ATAF) had been formed in 1958 to direct NATO air units in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the northern part of Germany in support of Northern Army Group (NORTHAG). Commander of 2ATAF was the commanding general of RAF Germany. The peacetime headquarters of 2 ATAF was at RAF Rheindahlen, the command center in case of war for 2 ATAF and NORTHAG was in the Netherlands, at Joint Operations Center Maastricht (JOC Maastricht). In 1983 NATO began with the construction of Static War Headquarters Castlegate in Linnich, Germany as a replacement for JOC Maastricht. Second Allied Tactical Air Force commanded the British Royal Air Force Germany, the Belgian Air Force, the Royal Netherlands Air Force, two divisions of the German Air Force and one US Air Force Tactical Fighter Group, as well as extensive air defense and radar installations.[6]

Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force (4 ATAF) had been formed in 1958 to direct NATO air units in the southern part of Germany in support of Central Army Group (CENTAG). Commander of 4ATAF was the commanding general of US Seventeenth Air Force. The peacetime headquarters of 4 ATAF was in Heidelberg, the command center in the case of war for 4 ATAF and CENTAG was a secret bunker facility known as Feudenheim Bunker in Mannheim-Feudenheim, Germany. In 1985 NATO began with the construction of a new command bunker for CENTAG and 4 ATAF in Ruppertsweiler, Germany.[7] Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force commanded the Seventeenth Air Force, two divisions of the German Air Force and the 1 Canadian Air Group of the Royal Canadian Air Force, as well as extensive air defense and radar installations, including the United States Army's 32nd Army Air Defense Command.[8]

Commanders

List of AAFCE commanders
# Name Country Service Duration
10 Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Le Cheminant  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 5 February 1976 – 1 June 1979
11 Air Chief Marshal Sir John Stacey  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 1 June 1979 – 1 February 1981
12 Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Terry  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 1 February 1981 – 8 April 1981
13 Air Chief Marshal Sir John Gingell  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 8 April 1981 – 14 March 1984
14 Air Chief Marshal Michael Beavis  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 14 March 1984 – 19 September 1986
15 Air Chief Marshal Sir Joseph Gilbert  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 19 September 1986 – 1 May 1989
16 Air Chief Marshal Sir Anthony Skingsley  United Kingdom Royal Air Force 1 May 1989 – 27 August 1993

Post Cold War

During the early 1990s, following the relaxation of the tensions between East and West, a major reorganization of the NATO command and control structure was undertaken. As part of this, and to take account of the decrease in the number of allied aircraft in Europe, a rationalization of the Central Region air force headquarters occurred in 1993 with the disbandment of 2ATAF and 4ATAF on 30 June 1993 and AAFCE absorbing the functions previously undertaken by the ATAFs. The new command was inaugurated on 1 June 1993 retaining the name of Allied Air Forces Central Europe, but with a change in acronym to AIRCENT.[9] The command was redesignated Component Command-Air Headquarters Ramstein in 2004, Allied Air Command, Ramstein in 2010 and Allied Air Command in 2013.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Another officially reported creation date is 20 August 1953". Fontainebleau Veterans Association. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Foster". Air of Authority. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  3. ↑ W.T. Gunston, 'AAFCE Part I : The Background to NATO and its Constituent Formations', Flight, 26 June 1953, 825-827.
  4. ↑ Air of Authority, Multinational Commands held by RAF Air Officers, accessed March 2008
  5. ↑ NATO, History of the NATO Air HQs at Ramstein Air Base, accessed March 2008
  6. ↑ Mille, David. The Cold War: A Military History.
  7. ↑ "NATO bunkers are sealed with concrete in January tunnel system is passed: no civilian use". Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  8. ↑ "4th Allied Tactical Air Force". US Army Germany. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  9. 1 2 "History of the NATO AIRCOMs at Ramstein Air Base". NATO. Retrieved 14 June 2014.

External links

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