RAF Geilenkirchen
| RAF Geilenkirchen | |
|---|---|
| Active | May 1953 – 28 January 1968 |
| Country | Germany |
| Allegiance | UK: British Armed Forces |
| Branch | Royal Air Force |
| Type | Flying station |
| Role | Fighters (Strike/Attack) |
| Part of |
RAF Second Tactical Air Force, then Royal Air Force Germany |
| Located near | Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany |
| Nickname(s) | "Geilenkirchen" |
| Motto(s) | Celer Respondere |
| Royal Air Force Ensign |  |
| March | Royal Air Force March Past |
| RAF Geilenkirchen | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | |||||||||||
| Airport type | Military | ||||||||||
| Owner | formerly: Ministry of Defence, now: NATO |
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| Operator | formerly: Royal Air Force, now: NATO |
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| Location | Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany | ||||||||||
| Elevation AMSL | 296 ft / 90 m | ||||||||||
| Runways | |||||||||||
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Coordinates: 50°57′36.7″N 6°2′32.6″E / 50.960194°N 6.042389°E
Royal Air Force Station Geilenkirchen, more commonly known as RAF Geilenkirchen, was a Royal Air Force station in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, built by the British who used the facility mainly as an airfield for RAF fighter squadrons from May 1953 until 21 January 1968.
The RAF handed over the station to German Luftwaffe in March 1968. The Germans used the airfield as home for a Surface-to-Surface Missile Wing equipped with Pershing missiles with support from the United States Army.
In 1980, the station became NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, to house the main operating base for NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (AWACS). This is a multinational organisation operating 17 NATO Boeing E-3A Sentry aircraft.
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Wikipedia