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88-510: Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath ( IATA : LKZ , ICAO : EGUL ) is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk , England, UK, 4.7 miles (7.6 km) north-east of Mildenhall and 8.3 miles (13.4 km) west of Thetford . The installation's perimeter borders Brandon . Despite being an RAF station, Lakenheath currently only hosts United States Air Force (USAF) units and military personnel. The host wing

176-739: A United States Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean after departure from RAF Lakenheath for a flight to Lajes Field in the Azores . The aircraft was on a Military Air Transport Service flight carrying 50 members of the 307th Bombardment Wing , on their way home to the United States after a temporary duty assignment and a U.S. Navy crew of nine. All 59 personnel on board were lost. Following French president Charles de Gaulle's insistence in 1959 that all non-French nuclear-capable forces should be withdrawn from his country,

264-509: A field training detachment facility (a three-storey building to provide F-35A maintenance, including classrooms and administration rooms), aircraft ground equipment facilities (a single storey building extension and new covered storage associated with an existing building used for maintenance), a fuel system maintenance dock (a single storey hangar with fuel system maintenance dock), a munitions maintenance facility (a single storey building extension and new covered storage to an existing building for

352-464: A formal partnership with Panzergrenadierbrigade 32, a Federal Republic of Germany Bundeswehr mechanized infantry brigade headquartered in nearby Schwanewede. The division also had informal relationships with Dutch, Belgian, and British NORTHAG forces, often conducting joint training activities at Bergen Hohne. After the Gulf War the division went through a series of inactivations and redesignations. Due to

440-470: A local training area, facilities at Garlstedt included a troop medical clinic, post exchange, library, movie theater, and a combined officer/non-commissioned officer/enlisted club. The division's soldiers and family members received radio and TV broadcasts from The American Forces Network (AFN) – Europe via the AFN Bremerhaven affiliate station located in the nearby port city of Bremerhaven. The brigade

528-550: 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

616-429: A new wave of peace protests. In one incident, 9 protestors gained access to the base by cutting through its perimeter fence. The protestors rode bicycles along the main runway, before chaining themselves together. Activists later established a 'peace camp' outside RAF Lakenheath to draw attention to the base. In 2006, a group of 200 people protested against the alleged nuclear weapons stored at RAF Lakenheath. Addressing

704-717: A plum assignment for armor branch brigadier generals, on par with perhaps only the Berlin Brigade for high visibility and potential for advancement to higher rank. The brigade initially deployed to Germany with the M60 Patton tank and the M113 armored personnel carrier . 4–3rd Field Artillery had the M109 155 mm self-propelled howitzer . In 1984, 2–66th AR transitioned to the M1 Abrams main battle tank . In 1985, 3–41st IN and 4–41st IN transitioned to

792-591: A retired U.S. Army major general, attended the ceremony. The brigadier general in charge of 2nd Armored Division (Forward) had a unique command. In addition to command of the heavy brigade, he also functioned as the Commander, III Corps (Forward), headquartered in Maastricht , Netherlands , and as commander of all US Army forces in Northern Germany , including the military communities of Garlstedt and Bremerhaven. In

880-514: A second Stirling squadron. It conducted mine laying operations at sea before moving to RAF North Creake in Norfolk on 1 May 1944. No. 149 Squadron ended its association with RAF Lakenheath the same month, taking its Stirlings to RAF Methwold. The reason for the departure of the two bomber squadrons was Lakenheath's selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield, which left the airfield closed to aircraft until April 1947. Cold War tensions with

968-514: A small regional studio, AFN Hessen, on WAAF to serve the American troops in and around Wiesbaden. It is now home to the 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion of the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade , flying the RC-12 Guardrail signals intelligence aircraft. On June 14, 2012, WAAF was renamed "Lucius D. Clay Kaserne" after General Lucius D. Clay . Clay was the former U.S. military governor of

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1056-499: 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

1144-788: Is an installation of the United States Army in Hesse , Germany . The kaserne is located within Wiesbaden-Erbenheim . Named for General Lucius D. Clay , it is the home of the Army's 2d Theater Signal Brigade , 66th Military Intelligence Brigade and is the headquarters of the U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF). The USAREUR oversees the 7th Army Training Command , 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command and 21st Theater Sustainment Command . Clay Kaserne also maintains an airfield. The land on which present-day Clay Kaserne now stands

1232-544: 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

1320-518: 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

1408-650: Is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it 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 ,

1496-513: 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

1584-532: 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

1672-745: Is the 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW), also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). The wing operates the F-15E Strike Eagle and the F-35A Lightning II . The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was during the First World War , when the area was made into a bombing and ground-attack range for aircraft flying from RFC Feltwell and RFC Thetford. In 1940,

1760-416: 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

1848-522: The Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for nearby RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield. Surfaced runways were constructed in 1941, with the main runway being 3,000 feet (910 m), and the two subsidiary runways at 2,000 feet (610 m). In late 1941, Lakenheath was used by RAF flying units on detachment. The station soon functioned as a Mildenhall satellite base with Short Stirling bombers of No. 149 Squadron dispersed from

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1936-561: 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

2024-458: The Federal Republic of Germany . The 2nd Armored Division (Forward) stationed there had approximately 3,500 soldiers and another approximately 2,500 family dependents and civilian employees. The West German government constructed family housing in the nearby city of Osterholz-Scharmbeck. In addition to troop barracks, motor pools, an indoor firing range, repair and logistics facilities, and

2112-625: The M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle . The C/2-1 Cavalry was replaced by an air cavalry troop, the D/2-1 Cavalry, armed with AH-1S Cobra attack helicopters . The brigade's initial subordinate combat units consisted of the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Infantry Regiment , 2nd Battalion of the 50th Infantry Regiment , 2nd Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment (Iron Knights), 1st Battalion, 14th Field Artillery Regiment , and C Troop, 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment . In October 1983, as part of

2200-1045: The Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg and the ball bearing plants in Schweinfurt . Alfred Grislawski , a German fighter ace , took part. The field was captured when the 80th U.S. Infantry Division took Wiesbaden on 28 March 1945. Subsequently, the United States Army Air Forces gave the base the temporary designation "Y-80." Beginning in September, 1945, the European Air Transport Service (EATS) operated passenger and cargo service from Wiesbaden daily to London , Munich , Bremen , Vienna and Berlin . From Berlin an EATS plane made weekly flights to Warsaw , Poland . Flights originated from Vienna for Bucharest , Belgrade , Sofia , and Budapest . In

2288-501: The Soviet Union in Europe began as early as 1946. In November, President Harry S. Truman ordered Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-29 Superfortress bombers to Europe. Truman decided to realign United States Air Force Europe (USAFE) into a permanent combat-capable force. In July 1948, B-29s of the SAC 2nd Bombardment Group were deployed to Lakenheath. The first USAFE host unit at Lakenheath

2376-564: The "Return of Forces to Germany" (REFORGER) (1980 and 1987). Division subordinate units used the NATO gunnery and maneuver ranges at the Bergen-Hohne Training Area for gunnery and maneuver training and each year the division as a whole deployed south to Grafenwöhr and Hohenfels[24] (both in Bavaria) training areas for annual crew and unit gunnery and maneuver qualification. The division had

2464-527: The 48th TFW started its conversion to the McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II , receiving aircraft that had previously served in Vietnam , with all squadrons now marked with the new 'LN' tailcode. However, the delivery of F-4s was intermittent, and working up to full strength (73 aircraft) took 2½ years. Consequently the wing only resumed its full NATO and USAFE commitments on 1st July 1975. However

2552-611: The Airlift. On 4 July 1956 a U-2A stationed in Wiesbaden flew over both Moscow and Leningrad as part of Operation Overflight, missions to spy on Soviet Armed Forces bases. This was the first flight by a U-2 over the Soviet Union . It was flown by United States Air Force pilot Hervey Stockman, and the aircraft is now in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. In 1973,

2640-661: The F-35 project were as follows: a two six-bay maintenance hangars – Space for service, maintenance, storage, and staff support facilities (to be known as Hangars 4-1 and 4–2), hangar 6 (Consolidated Parts Store) – Single-storey extension to the southern side of Hangar 6, including offices and warehouses and the storage of aircraft equipment and parts., a dual squadron operations/aircraft maintenance unit (a three-storey building to provide combined facilities for two squadrons comprising Squadron Operations and Aircraft Maintenance Unit (AMU) facilities, including mission planning, administration space in

2728-613: The F-4's service with the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing was short, as operation "Ready Switch" resulted in 48th Tactical Fighter Wing receiving General Dynamics F-111s in June 1977. After the US desegregated the military in 1948, a little community of mixed-race children, whose mothers were British and whose fathers were black American servicemembers based at Lakenheath, formed in Norwich . Vanessa Baird, whose father

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2816-664: The Germany and architect of the rebuilding of Germany after World War II that led to the Marshall Plan . Clay instituted Operation Vittles from WAAF in 1948, retiring only after the Soviets lifted their blockade of Berlin. Prior to this renaming, "Lucius D. Clay Kaserne" was the name of a U.S. Army facility in then-West Germany, near the community of Garlstedt in Osterholz-Scharmbeck . The installation still named Clay Kaserne had been

2904-539: The Liberty Wing housed the 56th Rescue Squadron 's HH-60G combat search and rescue helicopters. The 56th Rescue Squadron re-located to Aviano Air Base in 2018. On 15 June 2020, an F-15C belonging to the 493d Fighter Squadron crashed during a training flight in the North Sea, 74 nautical miles east of Scarborough at about 54°21′00″N 001°40′00″E  /  54.35000°N 1.66667°E  / 54.35000; 1.66667 . The body of pilot 1st Lt. Kenneth Allen

2992-572: The Mediterranean area EATS flights connected Udine , Pisa , Rome , and Naples . The EATS originally was composed of left-over wartime troop carrier squadrons, glider and fighter pilots, B-17 "Flying Fortress" crewmen and other available personnel. In addition to regular flights which service the Army of Occupation, EATS also operated special flights such as providing transportation for diplomatic officials, evacuating sick or wounded, performing mercy flights, aiding Graves Registration in returning

3080-647: 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 . Wiesbaden Air Base Lucius D. Clay Kaserne ( German : Flugplatz Wiesbaden-Erbenheim ) ( IATA : WIE , ICAO : ETOU ), commonly known as Clay Kaserne , formerly known as Wiesbaden Air Base and later as Wiesbaden Army Airfield ,

3168-652: The USAF began a redeployment of its North American F-100 -equipped units from France. The 48th Fighter Wing left its base at Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base , France on 15 January 1960, its aircraft arriving at Lakenheath that afternoon. The tactical components of the 48th TFW upon arrival at Lakenheath were: The bare metal finish and bright squadron markings were replaced with dull green-based camouflage and no squadron markings around 1966-67, but by 1970 subdued individual squadron markings had returned e.g. blue fin tip and white 'LR' tailcode denoting 492d TFS. Beginning in late 1971,

3256-481: 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

3344-414: The air base was a joint Army/Air Force community. U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF)/U.S. Air Forces in Europe units (USAFE) assigned to Wiesbaden Air Base or Lindsey Air Station from 1945 to 1993 included: Lucius D. Clay Kaserne was a new military facility built near the village of Garlstedt just north of the city of Bremen . The facilities cost nearly $ 140 million to construct, half of which was paid for by

3432-440: 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,

3520-418: 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

3608-497: The army's regimental alignment program, 2–50 Infantry was redesignated as 4–41 Infantry and 1–14 Field Artillery as 4–3 Field Artillery. Other brigade subordinate units eventually included the 498th Support Battalion, D Company, 17th Engineer Battalion, and the 588th Military Intelligence Company. The brigade also had a military police platoon and an aviation detachment. In 1986, under the army's COHORT unit manning and retention plan, 3–41st Infantry returned to Fort Hood , Texas , and

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3696-571: The base at the site. Although never officially confirmed, US nuclear weapons were based at Lakenheath from the first deployment of SAC aircraft to the base in the 1950s until the 1990s. As of 2024, no US nuclear weapons are known to be based in the UK. In February 2024, US documents detailing the awarding of contracts to build new storage facilities for nuclear cores stimulated public discussion in East Anglia that nuclear weapons may be redeployed to Lakenheath in

3784-452: The base. Along with its departure, the 493d FS was inactivated, but then reactivated as an F-15 Eagle squadron. On 2 March 2011, members of the 48th Security Forces Squadron were involved in a shooting at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. The members were on a bus bound for Ramstein Air Base in Germany when they were attacked by a lone gunman. On 22 March 2011, F-15E 91-0304 crash-landed and

3872-491: 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

3960-569: The crash. On 8 October 2014, F-15D 86-0182 belonging to the 493rd Fighter Squadron crashed during a training flight in a field outside Spalding, Lincolnshire. The pilot successfully ejected and was shortly recovered back to Lakenheath on board a Pave Hawk. A U.S. Marine Corps Boeing F/A-18 Hornet of VMFA-232 "Red Devils" from MCAS Miramar , California, crashed after taking off from RAF Lakenheath on 21 October 2015. The pilot, Major Taj "Cabbie" Sareen (34), did not survive. In addition to supporting three combat-ready squadrons of fighter aircraft,

4048-508: The crowd was Jeremy Corbyn , who cycled to RAF Lakenheath from the railway station in Ely. There were further protests on this issue in 2008. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from RAF Lakenheath . United States Air Force . IATA airport code The assignment of these codes

4136-640: The delivery of F-35A infrastructure at Lakenheath was authorised by the US administration in August 2018. In November 2018, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation awarded a £160M contract for infrastructure work to a joint venture between Kier Group and VolkerFitzpatrick. To make way for the F-35 Campus, demolition of the first of eighteen buildings began in March 2019. The work on Alpha-Bravo Apron

4224-580: The drones as they impacted local flight operations. RAF Regiment personnel were later deployed to the bases with the ORCUS C-UAS system in response to a second sighting of unidentified drones in the night hours of 25 November. Two accidents involving nuclear weapons happened at RAF Lakenheath, in 1956 and 1961. Flying and notable non-flying units based at RAF Lakenheath. United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) The base also has 1,500 British and US civilian staff, that serve

4312-874: 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

4400-399: The event of the deployment of III Corps and/or the 2nd Armored Division from the United States, the division commander would revert to his job as assistant division commander for operations of 2nd Armored Division. This contingency was practised during REFORGER exercises in 1980 and 1987. As a result of this varied and demanding job, command of the 2nd Armored Division (Forward) was considered

4488-557: 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

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4576-474: 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

4664-593: 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

4752-559: The headquarters of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) was relocated to Ramstein Air Base near Kaiserslautern . The Air Force moved most personnel out of Wiesbaden in 1975 as part of Operation Creek Swap, in which most Army facilities in Kaiserslautern were turned over to the Air Force, in exchange for the facilities at Wiesbaden. The 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division , was stationed at Wiesbaden in 1976 as part of "Brigade 76" until it

4840-602: The home of the 2nd Armored Division (Forward) and is now the home of the Bundeswehr 's logistics school. In 2022 and 2023, during the Russo-Ukrainian War from 2022, the base became the logistical hub, the International Donor Coordination Center, involving at least 17 nations who had representatives there. Lindsey Air Station, an installation on the opposite side of Wiesbaden from the air base,

4928-482: 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

5016-467: The lives of those in the nearby city of Cambridge : "...Lakenheath is, by crow or cruise, just over twenty miles from Cambridge. It is possible that Cambridge but less probable that Oxford will fall outside the CEP. Within the CEP we must suppose some fifteen or twenty detonations at least on the scale of Hiroshima, without taking into account any possible detonations, release of radio-active materials, etc., if

5104-502: The maintenance of munitions), residential accommodation (a three or four-storey dormitory for up to 144 beds), a dining facility, a munitions storage administration maintenance building, a hospital up to four storeys to provide inpatient services, outpatient and speciality care clinics, ancillary services, support and medical administrative functions and a high school to house about 560 students. The airfield operational surfaces were also being expanded as follows: Charlie Apron, used by F-15s

5192-612: 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

5280-503: The near future. RAF Lakenheath's gate guardian is North American F-100D Super Sabre , serial number ' 54-2269'. The aircraft was originally delivered to the French Air Force . On return it was moved to the "Wings of Liberty Memorial Park" at RAF Lakenheath. Firstly it was painted as '55-4048' , latterly as '56-3319' . Since the base's founding, RAF Lakenheath has been targeted for numerous peace protests from groups such as Stop

5368-416: 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

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5456-419: The operations section and offices to manage the maintenance of aircraft and storage space), a corrosion control and wash rack facility – Comprising single-storey hangar to maintain aircraft including a paint and sanding booth and wash rack, a Flight simulator facility ( a single-storey building to accommodate six F-35A flight simulators, administration, records, classrooms, brief/debrief rooms, and storage space,

5544-456: The parent airfield as conditions allowed. The squadron exchanged its Vickers Wellingtons for Stirlings late in November 1941. After becoming fully operational with its new aircraft, the squadron moved into Lakenheath on 6 April 1942 and remained until mid 1944 when the squadron moved the short distance to RAF Methwold , just inside Norfolk. One Stirling pilot, Flight Sergeant Rawdon Middleton ,

5632-670: The remains of American soldiers and rushing supplies to needy areas. In 1948 the installation served as a hub supporting the Berlin Airlift with around-the-clock flights to Tempelhof Airport . Airmen from Wiesbaden distinguished themselves in support of "Operation Vittles". C-47 "Skytrain"s and C-54 "Skymasters" of the 60th Troop Carrier Group flew missions daily to Tempelhof in the beleaguered city of Berlin. During one day's operations more than 80 tons of food and supplies were airlifted from Wiesbaden. The streets on Wiesbaden Air Base were named after servicemen who gave their lives during

5720-500: The restructuring of the U.S. Army after the end of the Cold War, the 2nd Armoured division was ordered off the active duty rolls, ending more than 50 years of continuous service. SGT Michael L. Anderson was the last member of the 2nd Armored Division. He was a 74F who was in charge of cutting orders for all remaining members of 2nd Armored Division HQ. On 1 September 1991, he cut the final orders for himself and his commanding officer. Over

5808-451: 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

5896-418: The squadron operations/AMU building. Alpha-Bravo Apron was to be extended to accommodate existing F-15 aircraft using Charlie Apron to an area of about 54,179 square metres, combining the retained area of 39,750 square metres with the new area of 14,429 square metres, to accommodate up to thirty-eight F-15 aircraft on the open apron which would not feature any shelters. Investment of $ 148.4 million (£116.7M) for

5984-497: 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

6072-429: The strike should succeed in finding out the cruise missiles at which it was aimed." A semi-permanent 'peace camp' was set up outside RAF Lakenheath. In 1985, the future Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was arrested for singing psalms at a CND protest at Lakenheath. Over 1,000 people demonstrated outside RAF Lakenheath in protest at the 1986 United States bombing of Libya . The 2003 invasion of Iraq sparked

6160-399: The summer and fall of 1992, the 2nd Armored Division was inactivated. Lucius D. Clay Kaserne was turned back over to the German government and was later to become home of the German Army Logistics and Supply School (Logistikschule der Bundeswehr) as well as the seat of General der Nachschubtruppe. Lucius D. Clay's name was later reused for the Wiesbaden Army Airfield. Until summer 2011, WAAF

6248-414: The two existing F-15E squadrons based at Lakenheath. The 495th Fighter Squadron was reactivated on 1 October 2021 to be the first Lightning II squadron at Lakenheath, with the first aircraft arriving on 15 December 2021. In 2017, a F-35 campus was being constructed on the south side of the airfield to accommodate the new aircraft. As of 2018, the main new operational buildings being developed as part of

6336-504: 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

6424-529: 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

6512-583: The war coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament . Lakenheath was one of the proposed sites of the NATO Pershing II Missile System. The deployment of the Missile system sparked protests all over Western Europe, and RAF Lakenheath was one of the most prominent military sites. The radical historian E.P. Thompson wrote in a pamphlet that basing the system at RAF Lakenheath directly endangered

6600-545: Was a black GI based in Lakenheath airfield and whose mother was a Liverpudlian, was born in April 1958. Her father did not know about the birth. Her mother's family was very disapproving after they found out. So Vanessa and her mother went to Norwich. There, according to Baird, some of the women married black GIs and went to the US with them. Elaine Brown had a similar experience to Vanessa. Her mother met black GI Harold Grigsby when he

6688-403: Was based at Lakenheath in the early 1950s. Her father was sent back to the US before Elaine was born in 1953. Elaine's mother told her her father's name and that he was from Washington DC . In 1996 with her husband Elaine finally found her father and met her American family. Lakenheath received its first McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagles in 1992. On 16 December 1992, the last F-111 departed

6776-480: Was completed in August 2020, allowing F-15E Strike Eagle operations of the 492nd and 494th Fighter Squadrons to be consolidated on one ramp. In 2024, between 20 November and 22 November, small unmanned aerial systems (UASs) were spotted in the vicinity of and over RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall , and RAF Feltwell . The number of UASs fluctuated and they ranged in size and configuration. F-15E Strike Eagles , based at Lakenheath, were allegedly scrambled in response to

6864-522: Was destroyed in eastern Libya after reportedly suffering from a mechanical failure. Both crewmen ejected and were safely recovered. On 7 January 2014, a Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk from the base crashed following a bird strike while on a low-level training exercise with another helicopter (also a Pave Hawk), into the Cley Marshes near Cley next the Sea on the nearby North Norfolk coast. All four occupants died in

6952-422: Was established as an Army Air Force installation on 13 November 1946, having previously been a German Army facility named Gersdorff Kaserne . Lindsey Air Station achieved its greatest prominence between December 1953 and 14 March 1973 when it was the host base for Headquarters, USAFE. After the transfer of Wiesbaden Air Base to the Army in 1976, Lindsey Air Station provided support for various Air Force units in

7040-526: Was found deceased. In January 2015, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that from 2020, Lakenheath would become home to 54 of the US Air Force's Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II multi-role fighters. The aircraft would be split between two squadrons and there would be an increase of 1,200 military personnel and between 60 and 100 civilian workers at the station. The F-35 would operate alongside

7128-458: Was home to the headquarters of 1st Armored Division and a number of subordinate units. As American forces draw down in Europe, 2017 plans called for Wiesbaden to remain one of six geographic hubs for U.S. forces in Europe. After the closure of US facilities in Frankfurt, Germany, the headquarters of American Forces Network (AFN) was moved from its old AFN Frankfurt location to Mannheim. AFN opened

7216-610: Was officially designated as 2nd Armored Division (Forward) during ceremonies at Grafenwöhr, FRG on 25 July 1978. The Garlstedt facilities were officially turned over to the United States by the German government in October. At that time the Garlstedt kaserne (camp) was named after General Lucius D. Clay, the American military commander during the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II . His son,

7304-399: Was originally built in 1910 as a race track for horses. In 1929, the race track was converted into a regional airport . The Luftwaffe took over operations in 1936. One unit stationed at the airfield was Jagdgruppe 50 , a fighter group of Messerschmitt Bf 109s . On August 17, 1943, Jagdgruppe 50 intercepted American bombers taking part in the ill-fated Regensburg Strike targeting

7392-576: Was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for valour on the night of 28–29 November 1942, when despite serious face wounds and loss of blood from shell-fire during a raid on the Fiat works at Turin in Italy, he brought the damaged aircraft back towards southern England. With fuel nearly exhausted his crew were ordered to bail out. On 21 June 1943, newly re-formed No. 199 Squadron re-located to RAF Lakenheath as

7480-713: Was replaced by 1–41st Infantry. In 1987, 4–41st Infantry returned to Fort Hood and was replaced by 3–66th Armor (Burt's Knights, named for Captain James M. Burt who was awarded the Medal of Honor as a company commander in the 66th Armored Regiment in the Battle of Aachen during World War II). Now an armor-heavy brigade, 2nd Armored Division (Forward) fielded 116 M-1A1 Abrams tanks and nearly 70 M2/3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles. The division participated in numerous major NATO training exercises, including "Trutzige Sachsen" (1985), "Crossed Swords" (1986) and

7568-555: Was replaced by the 3d Corps Support Command and 12th Aviation Brigade in the mid-1980s. In the mid-1980s, the base served as a landing point for the F-117 "Nighthawk" "Stealth Fighter". Although not officially acknowledged by the Air Force until 1988, the F-117 became operational in 1983. The Wiesbaden Air Base would "go dark", turning off all airfield and perimeter lights, whenever "stealth" flights were landing or taking off. From 1975 to 1993,

7656-584: Was the 7504th Base Completion Squadron, being activated in 1949. Amongst other units present were 3913 Air Base Sqdn (1953-55, Lt Col Archie Thomas), 3910 Installation Sqdn (1955-59, Maj John F Thomas), and 3910 Air Base Group (1955-59, Col L M Thomas). On 30 April 1956, two Lockheed U-2s were airlifted to Lakenheath to form CIA Detachment A. The first flight of the U-2 was on 21 May. The Central Intelligence Agency unit did not remain long, moving to Wiesbaden Air Base , West Germany in June 1956. On 10 October 1956,

7744-403: Was to be redeveloped and extended to allow the parking of up to forty-two F-35A aircraft in dual-occupancy shelters constructed from a light weight, canopy structure with open sides to a total area of Charlie Apron of about 78,392 square metres, combining the retained area of 58,780 square metres with the new area of 19,612 square metres. It was to be connected to maintenance hangars 4-1 and 4-2 and

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