Kaufbeuren Air Base

Geschichte

Kaufbeuren Air Base is a German Air Force military airbase. It is currently the home of the Luftwaffe Technical School 1.HistoryOriginally built in 1935 as a Luftwaffe station, the aerodrome was seized by the United States Army in May 1945 at the end of World War II. The 289th Combat Engineers were ordered in to occupy the site when it was discovered to be the final location of Nazi Party's top secret FA signals intelligence and cryptanalytic agency. After all intelligence aspects were secured it became an occupation facility by the 225th Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Battalion, the USAAF 55th Fighter Group based P-51 Mustangs at the airfield from 22 July 1945 - 28 April 1946.Renamed Kaufbeuren AFB (later, Kaufbeuren AB), the 60th Troop Carrier Wing was assigned to the base from 1 July 1948 until 1 October 1949. Shortly after moving to Kaufbeuren the 60 TCW and its three squadrons—the 10th, 11th, and 12th Troop Carriers Squadrons—began supporting the Berlin Airlift. From 26 June 1948 to 30 September 1949, the C-47 and C-54-equipped squadrons flew from both Kaufbeuren and Wiesbaden AB, Germany, and contributed to the U.S. total of nearly 1.8 million tons of supplies delivered on 189,963 flights.