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71-537: Spangdahlem Air Base ( IATA : SPM , ICAO : ETAD , former code EDAD) is a NATO air base with the United States Air Force as a tenant constructed between 1951 and 1953 and located near the small German town of Spangdahlem , approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) north-northeast of the city of Trier , Rhineland-Palatinate . After emerging as the victors in the Second World War ,

142-590: A 39th TEWS Navigator/Bombardier stepped in as additional duty Public Information Officer and initial Wing Historian to record events and prepare Col Clifford's Dec Arrival. A few PIO personnel from Bitburg were assigned to the Information office from 36th TFW Information Office. Upon activation in Germany, the 52 TFW assumed control of the two squadrons the 36 TFW had located at Spangdahlem: During warm seasons in 1970 and 1971 operations shifted back to Bitburg while

213-488: A 8,200-foot (2,500 m) long runway (with 1,000-foot (300 m) overruns at each end, total length would be 10,200 ft). In July 1952, the 53rd Fighter-Bomber Squadron from the 36th Wing moved from Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base a few miles west of Munich and arrived at the newly built base. Throughout the summer, elements of the 36th FBW moved into Bitburg, with the wing officially arriving in November 1952. With

284-512: A new USAFE wing, the new Wing Commander was to be the first black USAFE Wing CO Col Thomas E Clifford who had been 35th TFW DCO at Da Nang AB Viet Nam. The old 49th Wing HQ mostly vacant while 7149th inactive era was assigned a few personnel to begin the transition in October 1971. Recent promoted Col John J (Jack), Gaudion, former 23 TFS Sqdn CO became Base Commander designate and Captain Don I Phillips

355-567: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

426-509: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

497-507: Is a commercial airport serving Bitburg , a city in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany . It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Bitburg, 32 km (20 mi) north of Trier , and 217 km (135 mi) west of Wiesbaden . From 1952 until 1994, Bitburg Air Base was a front-line NATO air base. It was the home of the United States Air Force 's 36th Tactical Fighter Wing for over 40 years as part of

568-627: Is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

639-617: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

710-523: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

781-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

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852-543: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

923-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

994-622: The 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing was reassigned to Spangdahlem AB from Toul-Rosieres Air Base , France. The base population at this time totaled slightly more than 1,900 personnel. Operational squadrons of the 10th TRW were: Upon its arrival at Spangdahlem AB, the 10 TRW operated Lockheed RF-80A Shooting Star for daylight aerial recon and the Douglas RB-26C Invader for night recon missions. The RB-26s were replaced in October 1954 by Martin RB-57A Canberras and

1065-410: The 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB , Virginia (USA) , or to the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath , United Kingdom . In April 2010, the wing's strength was reduced by one third. 20 F-16Cs were flown to the 148th Fighter Wing , Minnesota Air National Guard and one F-16 was transferred to Edwards Air Force Base , California . All aircraft were from the 22nd Fighter Squadron. As a result of

1136-516: The 52d Air Expeditionary Wing , operating out of Powidz AB, Krzesiny AB, and Poznan, Poland . During the second quarter of FY 99, the 52nd witnessed the inactivation of the 53rd Fighter Squadron. The 53d had called Spangdahlem Air Base home since February 1994 when the squadron moved from Bitburg Air Base . As the squadron prepared for its inactivation in March 1999, all of the F-15s were transferred to

1207-439: The 701st Munitions Support Squadron, Kleine Brogel AB , Belgium; 702nd Munitions Support Squadron, Büchel AB , Germany; 703nd Munitions Support Squadron, Volkel AB , Netherlands; and 704th Munitions Support Squadron, Ghedi AB , Italy. Each squadron is responsible for the ownership, custody, accountability and release of war reserve munitions. Air Mobility Command (AMC) supports cargo and passenger traffic at Spangdahlem. With

1278-578: The 92nd Air Refueling Wing , based at Fairchild Air Force Base , as well as six EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft of the US Navy 's Electronic Attack Squadron 134 (VAQ-134), based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island . On the airfield it is a part of the major maneuver from June 12 to June 23, 2023, held under the leadership of the German Air Force Air Defender 23 it is the greatest exercise of air forces since NATO

1349-767: The Biden administration reviewed the previous administration's proposals. It was confirmed in December 2021 as part of the Department of Defense's Global Posture Review that the planned move of F-16s had been cancelled. In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , twelve F-35A Lightning II fighter of the 34th Fighter Squadron , based at Hill Air Force Base in Utah deployed to Spangdahlem in February 2022. In March 2022, they were joined by four KC-135 Stratotankers of

1420-571: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

1491-718: The Republic F-105D/F Thunderchief , commonly known as the "Thud". The 49th TFW was only the third USAF unit to operate the F-105. The 49th received two Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards for F-105 operations at Spangdahlem. On 9 March 1967, the Wing began receiving the McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II . The 49 TFW remained at Spangdahlem AB until 1 July 1968 when it relocated to Holloman Air Force Base , New Mexico , to serve as

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1562-965: The United States Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE ). Under contract with the United States Air Force, the French Army began construction of what would become the base in Western Germany's Eifel Mountains in early 1951. Located in the French occupation zone , construction began on farm land that had been a Wehrmacht tank staging and supply area for the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944. The air base and its housing area occupied nearly 1,100 acres (445 ha), with

1633-461: The 23d and 480th TFSs. These were later replaced with Block 50 versions beginning in 1993. The last USAF operational model F-4E Phantom II aircraft departed Spangdahlem AB in December 1987. In late 1990, the 81st TFS reorganized to exclusively fly the F-4G, then deployed 24 aircraft to Sheikh Isa Air Base , Bahrain for Operation Desert Storm combat operations. 52d Fighter Wing On 1 October 1991,

1704-578: The 363rd TRW Combat Crew Instructors had themselves trained the previous few years. In January 1969, the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing , located at nearby Bitburg Air Base , assumed operational control of Spangdahlem, and became a dual-based wing. Squadrons from the 36 TFW assigned to Spangdahlem were: The 23 TFS carried out tactical fighter training missions, while the 39 TEWS was a newly formed squadron to conduct electronic warfare missions and train ground radar site crews all around NATO in electronic warfare based on SEA strike force experience needed to protect

1775-503: The 52 TFW was redesignated the 52d Fighter Wing as part of a sweeping, Air Force-wide restructure. The 510th Fighter Squadron was moved to Spangdahlem with the closure of RAF Bentwaters United Kingdom on 4 January 1993 as the lone A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron in USAFE. Also in early 1993, the 81st FS was reorganized to fly a mixture of F-4Gs and Block 30 F-16C/Ds. The F-4Gs were withdrawn and sent to AMARC in February 1994. With

1846-471: The 52d TFW into the first and only all-defense suppression wing outside of the United States. Under this configuration, each of the wing's three fighter squadrons flew E and G model F-4s paired together into Wild Weasel "hunter/killer" teams capable of locating and destroying enemy radar-guided, surface-to-air threats in all weather. In April 1987, the 52d began changing with the times and replaced its aging Phantoms with Block 30/32 F-16C/D Fighting Falcons for

1917-413: The 52nd Fighter Wing were planned to relocate to Italy, whilst units based at RAF Mildenhall, which had been scheduled to relocate to Spangdahlem, would no longer move. Following the announcement, officials at the 52nd Fighter Wing said that Spangdahlem would remain open to carry out other missions carried out by the wing, separate from F-16 operations. However, in February 2021, the plans were put on hold as

1988-459: The Bitburg base's high school was officially closed after over 60 years in operation. This marked the beginning the return of the land to Germany. The task of preparing the base was put to the U.S. armed forces. After families were relocated and buildings prepared to be returned in November 2017, the base had a small ceremony to commemorate the end of United States military presence since 1952. After

2059-624: The EIC, changes would be made to the mission at Spangdahlem, including the relocation of the 606th Air Control Squadron to Aviano Air Base , Italy , in order to free up space and infrastructure for the future relocation of the 352nd Special Operations Group from RAF Mildenhall , UK . The US European Command Force Posture review was announced on 29 July 2020, which indicated the US military would be reducing its presence at Spangdahlem. The 480th Fighter Squadron and its F-16 Fighting Falcons and other elements of

2130-589: The Etain-Rouvres Air Base, France , and assumed host unit duties. In 1957, the French Government decreed that all nuclear weapons and delivery aircraft had to be removed from French soil. As a result, the nuclear-capable North American F-100C/D Super Sabres of the 49th TFW had to be removed from France. Squadrons of the 49th TFW at Spangdahlem were (squadron tail colour stripe): The 49th TFW flew F-100s until 1961 when it converted to

2201-465: The RB-66. The 19th TRS operated from RAF Sculthorpe United Kingdom during 1958, moving to Spangdahlem in 1959. The 42nd TRS flew from RAF Chelveston and remained there as a detachment of the 10th TRW. On 25 August 1959, the 10th TRW ended its six-year stay at Spangdahlem and moved to RAF Alconbury , United Kingdom . On 25 August 1959, the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing moved to Spangdahlem AB from

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2272-648: The RF-80s in July 1955 by Republic Aviation RF-84F Thunderjets . In 1957 the RB-57s and RF-84s were transferred to Chateauroux-Deols Air Depot and the 1st and 38th were re-equipped with the Douglas RB-66 Destroyer . Three additional squadrons, the 19th and 30th (8 January 1958) and 42d Tactical Reconnaissance (8 December 1957) were assigned to the 10th TRW from the 66th TRW,(Sembach AB), flying variants of

2343-513: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Bitburg Air Base Bitburg Airport ( German : Flugplatz Bitburg ) ( IATA : BBJ , ICAO : EDRB )

2414-681: The US Air Force's first dual-based, NATO-committed wing. The 38 TRS was never equipped with RB-66B models. When the 10 TRW re-equipped with the RB-66 the 38 TRS and the 32 TRS moved away from Spangdahlem (to France I believe) and re-equipped with RF-101s. The 1, 19, 30, and the 42 TRS remained at Spangdahlem until their move to the UK. The 1, 19, and 30 TRS flew the RB-66B and the 42 TRS flew the RB-66C and WB-66D. This movement of squadrons came about due to

2485-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

2556-750: The Western Allies (France, US, UK) occupied western Germany under the terms of the Potsdam Agreement . With the creation of NATO in response to Cold War tensions in Europe, USAFE wanted its vulnerable fighter units in West Germany moved west of the Rhein River to provide greater air defense warning time. France agreed to air base sites within its zone of occupation in the Rheinland-Palatinate. Spangdahlem base

2627-512: The activation of the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 15 November 1976. On 1 January 1977, the 52 TFW had the following operational squadrons: In 1979, the more capable Wild Weasel F-4G had replaced the EF-4Cs of the 81 TFS, and in 1980 through 1982, F-4Es replaced the F-4Ds of the 23d and 480th TFSs. A complete reorganization of wing aircraft and aircrews occurred in November 1983, transforming

2698-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

2769-463: The airport was officially returned to the German government, the United States held on to the land annexed for housing soldiers and their families. This land was designated as extra housing for airmen and their families, numerous support facilities, such as schools, a commissary, and a hospital. The intention to return these facilities was always the plan, but unknown when it would take place. In May 2017,

2840-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

2911-421: The base. Flying and notable non-flying units based at Spangdahlem Air Base. US Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) Air Mobility Command (AMC) Air Education and Training Command (AETC) Office of Special Investigations (OSI) International Air Transport Association airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it

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2982-612: The closure of the Rhein-Main Air Base in 2005, the Rhein-Main Transition Program was initiated to transfer all its former transport capacities to Ramstein Air Base (70%) and Spangdahlem AB (30%). The 726th Air Mobility Squadron supports cargo and passenger traffic as part of its airlift mission, providing command and control, maintenance and aerial port capability to all AMC aircraft transiting

3053-502: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

3124-504: The control rods. One of the mechanics, TSgt. Thomas Mueller, was charged with negligent homicide and killed himself during his military trial. The 52d made history in 1997 with its first-ever deployment to a former Warsaw Pact nation. In September the 52d participated in EAGLE’S TALON-97, the first bilateral exercise involving US and Polish Air Forces. Units from the 52d deployed under the air expeditionary force (AEF) doctrine and formed

3195-414: The departure of the 49 TFW. Although it did not have any assigned aircraft, the 7149 TFW would have served as a nucleus on which to build if the 49 TFW had been ordered to return to Europe to bolster NATO air forces. As part of "REFORGER" (return of forces to Germany) US Army, USAF units returned as "Crested Cap" including the entire 49th TFS in early 1969 and in 1970 and 1971 from Holloman AFB, NM. After 1969

3266-735: The drawdown of F-16s, the 22d and 23d Fighter Squadrons were inactivated on 13 August 2010 and formed a single "new" squadron, the 480th Fighter Squadron . In February 2012, it was announced that the 81st Fighter Squadron would be inactivated in 2013, leaving the 52d Fighter Wing with just one squadron. In February 2015, the 354th Fighter Squadron was deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base to Spangdahlem in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve with twelve A-10Cs and approximately 300 airmen. The unit will train alongside NATO allies and deploy to locations in Eastern European NATO nations to further enhance interoperability. The A-10s were

3337-579: The end of the Cold War , it was deemed that Bitburg AB was no longer needed as a military base and it was turned over to the German government on 1 October 1994. Between June and September 1997, it was necessary to repair the Spangdahlem Air Base runway and that called for a temporary location to accommodate the 52d Fighter Wing 's three squadrons of F-15s and F-16s . Bitburg Airport was the most logical place—only 10 miles (16 km) down

3408-886: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

3479-668: The first of several theater security package deployments to Europe, U.S. Air Force officials said, adding that rotations generally will last six months, depending on mission and United States European Command requirements. On 8 January 2015 the US Secretary of Defense announced the results of the European Infrastructure Consolidation (EIC) review, which was to realign several missions in US Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa. Under

3550-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

3621-573: The fleet against SAM, AAA and fighter aircraft based in the East Iron Curtain Soviet Block nations. Spangdahlem retained status of a Nuclear Strike base and also housed USAFE Eifel Control in the Base Operations Tower. Orders for 39th TEWS personnel originally were to Bitburg AB but shortly prior it was realized the additional 2,000 feet of runway on the larger inactive hilltop at Spang was a great benefit to

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3692-478: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

3763-597: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

3834-487: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

3905-547: The introduction of the AFM 66-1 combined maintenance concept. It was decided to keep aircraft of one general type in the same units for maintenance and supply considerations. Fighter units got the RF-101 and bomber units got the RB-66 and these units combined accordingly. With the departure of the 49 TFW, the 7149th Air Base Group was activated to serve as a caretaker unit for a number of support organizations that remained behind after

3976-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

4047-450: The older EB-66 which had gained weight on modifications at Tulsa Plant where heavier cables for greatly increased jamming capability from RB-66B to EB-66E were added without removing the earlier in hard to get to areas. Near same time, plans to modify the early turbo jet engines to modern high bypass design were not considered with plans to retire the 1950s design in very few years and end of SEA needs. Modern miniature electronics were to allow

4118-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

4189-620: The road. The USAF departed for the second time in September 1997, and Bitburg Airport was returned to civilian use. On September 15, 2008, the Ministry of Transport of Rhineland-Palatinate granted the airport contractor landing rights for aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of more than 14 tonnes. The airport contracting company is currently evaluating plans to develop the airport into a regional freight airport. There are no scheduled airline services to and from Bitburg Airport. Although

4260-511: The runway was resurfaced at Spang. During this period the hardened NATO "Tab-V" shelters were constructed at both bases while operations around them continued. EB-66s were too large and remained parked around the ramp at the large hangar. End of runway alert aircraft F4s and EB-66's were under shelter for weather protection only. "V" or Victor Alert denoted nuclear forces from the British bombers Victor and Vulcan beginning with that letter. "E" Alert

4331-451: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

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4402-500: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

4473-571: The strike aircraft to carry their own modular ECM components in a great 30 minute rush to the border and roll back of enemy forces. This was envisioned as "Plugging the Fulda Gap" with WW 2-style massed armored Soviet forces. On 31 December 1971 the 52d Tactical Fighter Wing was transferred without personnel or equipment from Suffolk County AFB , New York to Spangdahlem. The unit had been a sort of personal National Guard wing for top World War II P-47 ace Gabby Gabreski . Inactivated then reactivated as

4544-657: The two 36th TFW assigned squadrons, 23rd TFS in F-4Cs and 39th TEWS in EB-66E and 2 EB-66C's were back in the runway alert facility, previously used by 49 TFW F-105s and F-4s, reactivated in Dec 1969. 23rd TFS simply moved to next Eifel Mtn hill top into old 49th TFW squadron buildings and 39th TEWS began assembling in April with aircraft from 4417th CCTS and personnel from both Shaw AFB, SC and returning SEA EB-66 combat crewmembers many of whom

4615-401: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

4686-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

4757-452: The withdrawal of the Phantoms, the 510th Fighter Squadron was replaced by the 81st FS at Spangdahlem and was transferred to Ramstein Air Base to absorb the F-16 assets of the 512th FS there. In February 1994, the 53d Fighter Squadron relocated to Spangdahlem from Bitburg after its closure with F-15C/Ds. The 480 FS was also inactivated during October 1994, being replaced by the 22d Fighter Squadron from Bitburg. The 606th Air Control Squadron

4828-473: Was also assigned to the 52d Fighter Wing but remained at Bitburg until September 1995 before moving to Spangdahlem. After the restructuring and the closure of Bitburg and transfer of 36 FW squadrons to Spangdahlem, the operational squadrons of the 52d Fighter Wing were: In May 1995 Major Grey Lowry was killed when his 53d Fighter Squadron F-15C crashed at Spangdahlem AFB. Investigation showed that during routine maintenance, mechanics had crossed and mis-connected

4899-423: Was announced. Spangdahlem is home of the 52nd Fighter Wing , which maintains, deploys and employs Lockheed Martin Block 50 F-16CM/DM . The wing supports the Supreme Allied Commander Europe with mission-ready personnel and systems providing expeditionary air power. The wing also supports contingencies and operations other than war. The wing also supports geographically separate units throughout Europe, including

4970-446: Was constructed between 1951 and 1953 at a cost of roughly $ 27,000,000 using French and German contractors, working under the supervision of a French government agency. The initial USAF military presence began on 1 September 1952 with the arrival of the 7352d Air Base Squadron on 1 September 1952 from Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base near Munich . The mission of the 7532d ABS was to prepare the facility for an operational wing. On 10 May 1953

5041-580: Was for ECM. The 39 TEWS was disbanded and personnel reassigned on 1 January 1973. Aircraft were returned to Shaw then retired by 1975. In turn, it was replaced in the electronic warfare role by the 81st Tactical Fighter Squadron , flying the McDonnell Douglas EF-4C Phantom II , being transferred to Spangdahlem from Zweibrücken Air Base , Germany under project "Creek Action" on 15 January 1973. The 4th TFW had Three short-term deployments (F-4E) for European contingency support in March 1974, July and September 1975 The 52 TFW gained its third fighter squadron with

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