NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen

NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen
NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen
E–3A Component
IATA: GKEICAO: ETNG
Summary
Airport type Military
Operator NATO
Location Geilenkirchen
Elevation AMSL 296 ft / 90 m
Coordinates 50°57′39″N 006°02′33″E / 50.96083°N 6.0425°E / 50.96083; 6.0425Coordinates: 50°57′39″N 006°02′33″E / 50.96083°N 6.0425°E / 50.96083; 6.0425
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
09/27 10,009 3,050 Concrete/Asphalt

NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen (E-3A Component) (IATA: GKEICAO: ETNG) is located near Geilenkirchen, Germany. It is the Main Operating Base of the NATO E-3A Component, one of two operational elements of the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force.

Contents

Location and history

Entrance

NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen is located in the Federal Republic of Germany, near the village of Teveren and six kilometers west of the town of Geilenkirchen. The base is known to the local population as ‘Flugplatz Teveren’ and has an area of 620 hectares (1,500 acres). Part of the base perimeter is adjacent to the German-Dutch border.

Surrounded by farmland and a natural woodland reserve, the base was originally built by the Royal Air Force after World War II and operated as RAF Geilenkirchen from 1953 onwards. Various RAF fighter squadrons were based there from 1953 until 1968.

Flying operations at Geilenkirchen ended in January 1968 and the installation was handed over to the German Air Force in March 1968. In August of that year it became the home of the German Surface-to-Surface Missile Wing Number 2, which was equipped with Pershing missiles and supported by the 85th Field Artillery Detachment of the U.S. Army.

Following NATO’s decision to establish the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force program and to make the base near Teveren the Main Operating Base (MOB) of the E­3A Component, a major construction program was started in 1980 to modify the operational and support facilities.

In January 1980 the first E-3A Component personnel started arriving at the base, and in October 1980 the NATO Defence Planning Committee (DPC) granted the E-3A Component the status of a NATO International Military Headquarters. By the end of 1981, the German Pershing Wing had left the base and moved to Niederheid, north of Geilenkirchen, while the U.S. 85th Field Artillery Detachment remained on base until July 1991 and was then de-activated.

E-3A Component flying operations began in February 1982 after delivery of the first E­3A aircraft. Germany formally handed over the Main Operating Base to NATO on 31 March 1982. The Component was officially activated on 28 June 1982 and reached Full Operational Capability by the end of 1988.

Major construction on the base initially included a new 3,000-metre (9,800 ft) runway with a width of 45 metres (148 ft), as well as aprons and taxiways, a control tower, an Information Technology Wing building (which also houses flight simulator and mission simulator facilities), on-base accommodation and major renovation of the four existing hangars.

Since that time, most of the buildings on base have been renovated to present day standards and several new buildings have been erected.

NATO E-3A Component

The E-3A Component is NATO's first­ operational flying unit with multinational manning.[1] The Component commander’s position is of Brigadier General rank and is held alternately by Germany and the USA. The Component’s organizational structure comprises a Headquarters staff and five major functional elements (Operations Wing, Logistics Wing, Base Support Wing, Training Wing and Information Technology Wing). Each Wing is commanded by a Colonel, each from a different NATO member nation.

The Component’s multinational, fully integrated workforce consists of more than 3,000 military and civilian personnel from 16 NATO member nations. This figure includes personnel assigned to support functions, such as the engineering support teams of the Bundeswehr Service Centre, National Support Unit personnel, and morale and welfare activities staff.

Operations

The Component operates seventeen Boeing E-3A AWACS aircraft and three Trainer Cargo Aircraft (TCA)(one of which has since retired), all of which are based on the Boeing 707 airframe. These 20 aircraft of the NATO E-3A Component are all registered in Luxembourg as part of that country’s contribution to the NATO AWACS programme.

Since coming into service in the early 1980s, the aircraft and their onboard systems and associated ground-based equipment have undergone regular upgrading. Two major modernization programmes have been accomplished since the early 1990s. The more recent of these, the Mid­Term Modernization Programme, was completed in December 2008. It included the retrofitting of 17 E-3As with improved navigation systems, digital communication systems and five additional workstations, as well as the enhancement of two Mission Simulators. As a result of this project the NATO AWACS will be able to continue to fulfill its intended role as an important NATO asset for maintaining peace and security.

The Component’s three operational E-3A squadrons and its TCA squadron have a total of thirty multinational aircrews from 14 of NATO’s 28 nations: Poland, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the United States. In addition, the Aircrew Training Squadron operates on an equally multinational basis under the direction of Training Wing.

Normally, only a certain number of the E-3As and TCAs are present at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen at any given time. The remainder are deployed to the Component’s Forward Operating Bases in Greece, Italy, Turkey, and the Forward Operating Location in Norway, or to locations elsewhere. Each of these forward operating facilities is located on a national airbase. The Component has approximately thirty military and civilian assigned personnel at each site; these are NATO personnel, but all are from the respective host nation.

Economic significance

The E-3A Component directly employs more than 3,000 personnel at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen and therefore has a significant economic impact in the surrounding communities in Germany and the Netherlands.[2] [3]

An Economic Impact Study compiled by the NATO E-3A Component shows a 2008 economic impact of 275.8 million euro within a 200-kilometer radius of the base (expenditure of €150.7 million on staff payroll and €81.3 million on base-related expenditures, plus a further €43.8 million impact through indirect creation of jobs in the region surrounding the base). This marks an increase of 10.7 million euro locally. The 2008 overall economic impact was 447.3 million euro, an increase of 22.8 million euro as compared to 2007.[4][5]

Noise pollution controversy

NATO E-3 flying with USAF F-16s

The fleet of E-3's has remained in operation since the Cold War and has adapted its mission to emerging security threats, primarily in European airspace. Despite stringent self-imposed flight restrictions, including conducting a significant portion of training flights at different airfields throughout Europe and North America, E-3A operations in Geilenkirchen cause, according to a recent study by the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, 'noise pollution' [6] affecting over 40,000 citizens of Parkstad Limburg across the nearby German-Dutch border,[7][8] who have formed an NGO aiming to stop AWACS flights. The Dutch government has asked for a mid-life upgrade of the AWACS fleet to include upgrading the engines to make the fleet meet the maximum noise levels allowed for civilian air traffic.[9] However, NATO has not yet committed to the expensive investment.[10] Despite its economic importance to the region and the strategic importance for NATO of the base, the Dutch House of Parliament has adopted a motion to restrict the AWACS from Dutch airspace unless new engines are installed. However, the Dutch government decided not to implement this motion.[11]

References

  1. ^ http://www.e3a.nato.int/eng/home.htm NATO E-3A Component home page
  2. ^ http://www.e3a.nato.int/html/economic_impact/main.htm
  3. ^ NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, Final Comprehensive Study, Final Report May 2009, page 179, Landrum & Brown, Mestre Greve Associates, the MPD Group
  4. ^ http://www.e3a.nato.int/html/economic_impact/main.htm
  5. ^ NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, Final Comprehensive Study, Final Report May 2009, page 179, Landrum & Brown, Mestre Greve Associates, the MPD Group
  6. ^ draft RIVM report
  7. ^ Tienduizenden Limburgers ervaren overlast Awacs
  8. ^ Deafening Din of the Awacs Rouses the Folk Next Door
  9. ^ Request of Dutch government to EU concerning noise nuisance of AWACS
  10. ^ Kamer: Awacs moeten stiller
  11. ^ AWACS-dossier

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Air Base Geilenkirchen — NATO Flugplatz Geilenkirchen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Geilenkirchen — Infobox German Location Art = Stadt Name = Geilenkirchen Wappen = Wappen gk.jpg Wappengröße = 81 lat deg = 50 |lat min = 57 |lat sec = 55 lon deg = 6 |lon min = 07 |lon sec = 10 Lageplan = Bundesland = Nordrhein Westfalen Regierungsbezirk = Köln… …   Wikipedia

  • Ramstein Air Base — Ramstein Air Base …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Air Force Base — Militärflugplatz Base Aérea das Lajes der Portugiesischen Luftstreitkräfte auf Terceira (Portugal) Ein Militärflugplatz, in Deutschland und Österreich auch Fliegerhorst bzw. Heeresflugplatz genannt, ist ein vom Militär genutzter …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Geilenkirchen — Wappen Deutschlandkarte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Military units and formations of NATO — NATO E 3A flying with US F 16s in a NATO exercise. The military units and formations of NATO are the operational side of the organization, as determined by treaty. Strategically, NATO is run by three bodies. The decision making body is the… …   Wikipedia

  • RAF Geilenkirchen — Infobox Military Unit unit name = Royal Air Force Station Geilenkirchen caption = Station crest dates = May 1953 ndash; 28 January 1968 country = Germany allegiance = UK: British Armed Forces branch = Royal Air Force command structure = RAF… …   Wikipedia

  • Air Fan — Pays  France Langue Français Périodicité Mensuel Format A4 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of United States Air Force installations — The following is a partial list of U.S. Air Force bases and airfields, past and present.Major active duty installationsCurrent operational major active duty air bases and facilities, some with IATA Airport Codes: In the United States Abroad Minor …   Wikipedia

  • Fliegerhorst Geilenkirchen — Air Base Geilenkirchen …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”