608th Military Airlift Group
Encyclopedia
The 608th Military Airlift Group is an inactive 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...

 unit. Its last was assigned to the 86th Wing, stationed 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...

, Germany. It was inactivated on 1 June 1992.

History

Initially activated during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 at Cam Ranh Bay AB, South Vietnam in 1966. Managed the aireal port facilities at Cam Ranh from the opening of the facilities in 1966 until the closure and withdrawl of the USAF in 1972.

Reactivated in 1977 to operate the Military Airlift Command
Military Airlift Command
The Military Airlift Command is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command of the USAF which was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. It was constituted on 1 January 1966 and active until the end of the Cold War, when the Air Force table of organization was revised...

 aerial port 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...

 between 1977 and 1992. It took over the Det.1, 439th Air Terminal Squadron mission deployed from Rhein-Main Air Base
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....

 beginning with the move of HQ USAFE to Ramstein in 1974.

It supported Special Air Transportation of HQ USAFE executives with a fleet of light transports, and also serviced transient C-5 Galaxy
C-5 Galaxy
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize cargos, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many...

 and C-141 Starlifter
C-141 Starlifter
The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter was a military strategic airlifter in service with the Air Mobility Command of the United States Air Force...

 transports at Ramstein, loading/unloading cargo and also United States Army in Europe (USAREUR) forces receiving airlifted equipment for USAREUR units in Germany.

Beginning on 9 November 1983, the group controlled the 10th Military Airlift Squadron at Zweibrücken 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...

 which operated C-23 Sherpa
C-23 Sherpa
|-C-23B/C:-See also:-External links:*****...

 transports in support of USAFE's European Distribution System (EDS). The EDS was organized to give the units in Europe a quicker way to receive small equipment items or supplies on a round-the-clock basis, without the expense of the larger cargo aircraft.

It was inactivated with the inactivation of MAC and the re-designation of the 86th Wing at Ramstein to the 86th Airlift Wing, and USAFE taking over the MAC missison at Ramstein.

Lineage

  • Established as 608th Military Airlift Support Squadron 1 October 1966
Activated on 15 October 1966
Inactivated on 31 May 1972.
  • Reactivated on 1 July 1977
Re-designated 608th Military Airlift Group on 1 August 1983
Inactivated on 1 June 1992

Assignments

  • 483d Troop Carrier Wing, 15 October 1966
Re-designated 483d Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 August 1967
Re-designated 483d Composite Wing
483d Composite Wing
The 483d Composite Wing was a tactical airlift and composite wing assigned to Pacific Air Forces during the Vietnam War. It was the host organization at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base South Vietnam from 1970–1972....

, 1 January 1971-31 May 1972
  • 435th Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 July 1977
  • 322d Airlift Division
    322d Airlift Division
    The 322d Airlift Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Military Airlift Command, assigned to Twenty-First Air Force, being stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany...

    , 23 June 1978
  • 86th Wing, 1 April-1 June 1992

Stations

  • Cam Ranh Bay AB, South Vietnam, 15 October 1966 – 31 May 1972
  • Ramstein AB, West Germany (later Germany), 1 July 1977- 1June 1992
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK