Rhein-Main Closes as U.S. Base

(Germany) Since the end of World War II, Rhein-Main Air Base has been the "Gateway to Europe" for the U.S. military. Sadly for me and other nostalgics, times have changed. The last scheduled military flight has taken off from the historic airfield.

From the Stars and Stripes:

"It's really a bittersweet kind of thing," said Lt. Col. Michael Polhemus, commander of the 726th Air Mobility Squadron, which is finalizing its move from Rhein-Main to Spangdahlem Air Base, about 120 miles west of Frankfurt.

Aircraft capacity at Spangdahlem Air Base and Ramstein Air Base has been expanded in recent years in preparation for Rhein-Main's closure in accordance with a 1999 agreement between the U.S. and Germany.

Officials are planning a formal farewell ceremony on Oct. 10 at the celebrated air base where American jets departed around the clock during the Berlin Airlift in 1948 and where 52 American hostages returned in 1981 after 444 days in Iranian captivity.

The primary transit point between the U.S. and the Middle East will now be Ramstein Air Base. Rhein-Main will be absorbed into the adjacent Frankfurt International Airport officially on October 1.