Erding Air Base (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Fliegerhorst Erding'',

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...

: ETSE) is a German Air Force airfield near the town of

Erding Erding () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the rural district of the same name. It had a population of 36,469 in 2019. The original Erdinger Weissbier is a well-known Bavarian specialty. Erding is located around 31 kilometers nor ...

, about northeast of central

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. It is the home of the 5th Air Defense Missile Squadron and the 1st Air Force Maintenance Regiment. The last public

airshow An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The largest air show m ...

at Erding was held during the summer of 1986.

History

Prior to and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Erding was a

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

pilot training airfield. It was seized by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in April 1945 and used by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

during the early years of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. Erding was used as an Air Depot, Air Base and an Air Station. USAF units stationed at Erding were: * 85th Air Depot Wing, 1 Jun 1945 : Redesignated: European Air Depot, 1 Sep 1945 : Redesignated: Erding Air Depot, 5 Nov 1946 : Redesignated: 7200th Air Force Depot Wing, 1 Jul 1948 : Redesignated: 85th Air Depot Wing, 25 Jul 1949 85 ADW was transferred to

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

on 21 January 1951. On 10 July 1952, 85 ADW and its supporting units were reassigned from Twelfth Air Force to HEADQUARTERS, USAFE. : Redesignated: 7485th Air Depot Wing, 1 Dec 1953 : Redesignated: 7485th Support Wing (Training), 1 Apr 1956 – 15 May 1958 * 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 17 Feb 1956 – 1 Jan 1960 * 52d Tactical Fighter Group, 1 Apr 1971 – 31 Jul 1972 Originally developed as an Air Depot in the early postwar years, the mission of Erding Air Base (later Station) was to provide depot-level maintenance of USAFE and NATO fighters. With the opening of Châteauroux-Déols Air Base,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1953, Erding became a satellite depot. The mission of Erding Air Base was changed in 1956 to training personnel for the newly reconstituted

German Air Force The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War a ...

(GAF). The base was turned over to the GAF on 1 April 1957. On 14 December 1957, control of Erding Air Base was returned to the GAF as a front line facility where it hosted various

F-104 Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fi ...

Panavia Tornado The Panavia Tornado is a family of twin-engine, variable-sweep wing multirole combat aircraft, jointly developed and manufactured by Italy, the United Kingdom and West Germany. There are three primary Tornado variants: the Tornado IDS (inter ...

and other fighter squadrons. With the creation of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

in response to

tensions in Europe, USAFE wanted its major air bases in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

moved west of the

Rhine River ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

to provide greater air defense warning time. The establishment of the new bases in the

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

diminished the USAF use of Erding. It became an air defense facility in 1956 with the assignment of the

F-86 The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

D equipped 440th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, a detachment of the

86th Fighter-Interceptor Wing The 86th Airlift Wing (86 AW) is a United States Air Force wing, currently assigned to the Third Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. The 86th AW is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The wing's primary mi ...

Landstuhl Air Base Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also ...

until the arrival of the

Convair F-102 Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair. Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpos ...

in Europe and budget cutbacks in 1960 forced its closure. In 1966 with France withdrawing from NATO it left a gap in the air defense network of Europe. Operation Creek Ale filled that gap by rotating

F-102 The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair. Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpos ...

interceptors from various squadrons of the

86th Air Division The 86th Air Division (86 AD) is a former designation of the 86th Airlift Wing, a United States Air Force organization. It was assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany. It was inactivated on 14 November 196 ...

based at

Ramstein Air Base Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also ...

. Squadrons from

Soesterberg Air Base Soesterberg Air Base was a Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) military air base located in Soesterberg, east-northeast of Utrecht. It was first established as an airfield in 1911, and in 1913, the Dutch Army bought the field and established t ...

Zaragoza Air Base Zaragoza Air Base is a base of the Spanish Air and Space Force located near Zaragoza, Spain. It is located west of Zaragoza, west of Barcelona, and northeast of Madrid. It shares infrastructure with the Zaragoza Airport. in the past, Zaragoza ...

Hahn Air Base Hahn Air Base was a United States Air Force installation near Lautzenhausen in Germany for over 40 years. The major unit was the United States Air Force's 50th Tactical Fighter Wing during most of the years it was active. It was originally buil ...

Bitburg Air Base Bitburg (; french: Bitbourg; lb, Béibreg) is a city in Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate approximately 25 km (16 mi.) northwest of Trier and 50 km (31 mi.) northeast of Luxembourg city. The American Spangdahlem A ...

and

rotated to Erding for air defense alert. With the inactivation of the

in 1970, the 52d Tactical Fighter Group was formed at Erding in 1971 with some of the F-102s on a permanent basis. In 1972 the F-102s were withdrawn from Europe and the 52d TFG was inactivated. Circuit Erding

Relegated to Air Station status, Erding hosted temporary duty units of North America-based USAF aircraft though the 1980s for short-term deployments as part of the annual

Exercise Reforger Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic s ...

.Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .; Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.
USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to Present
From 2002 to 2013, the base was home to the GAF's 1st Air Force Maintenance Regiment ( :de:Luftwaffeninstandhaltungsregiment 1). It is now the location of Waffensystemunterstützungszentrum 1.

References

{{Authority control Installations of the United States Air Force in Germany Bases of the German Air Force Military airbases established in 1935 Buildings and structures in Erding (district) 1935 establishments in Germany Erding (district) Airports in Bavaria