The base is located near the town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, with the east gate about 16 km (10 mi; 9 nmi) from Kaiserslautern, commonly known as "K-Town" among Americans.

In 1940, construction of today's Bundesautobahn 6 was stopped when a bridge that was being built across the Rhine River near Mannheim collapsed, leaving a section of autobahn that could not be used.

During the initial postwar era, the USAAF repaired several former Luftwaffe airfields in Bavaria, part of the American occupation zone of Germany.

A train line was laid out from Einsiedlerhof-Kaiserslautern in a yoke shape around to the current base and back down to the Landstuhl spur in 1948, by agreement of the U.S. and French Occupational Forces.

Returning as an F-4 Phantom II Tactical Fighter Wing in 1973, the 86th TFW performed that mission until 1994, deploying components to the Middle East during the 1990 Gulf War.

The wing is the headquarters for the existing 721st Air Mobility Operations Group at Ramstein and the 521st AMOG at Naval Station Rota, Spain.

The 521st AMOW provides an enhanced level of control for the AMC route structure in Europe, which includes critical locations for getting people, cargo and patients to and from current war zones.

[9] On 7 March 1966, French President Charles de Gaulle announced that France would withdraw from NATO's integrated military structure.

In addition, the Wing was responsible for flying members of the HQ USAFE staff to Air Force and NATO bases throughout Europe.

In 1971 a detachment of the 630th Military Airlift Support Squadron from Rhein-Main Air Base was assigned to Ramstein and a large cargo aerial port constructed.

This allowed Military Airlift Command C-141 and C-5 Galaxy aircraft to use Ramstein as a transshipment point for material, which was then moved within USAFE by C-130 tactical transports.

In turn, the 17th AF was replaced by its mother unit HQ USAFE from Lindsey Air Station, Wiesbaden, West Germany in 1973.

This entire operation, code-named "Creek Action", was carried out as part of the USAF's new worldwide policy of locating the most vital headquarters in thinly populated rural areas rather than near cities.

Later, HQ USAFE was moved, due to the fact that US Intelligence found that the Soviets had plans to invade Western Europe through the Fulda Gap in West Germany.

To this day, the squadron enjoys vibrant member participation, as well as base support, hosting the European Encampments along with their traditional military studies, cadet programs and aerospace education efforts.

Responsible for an air space extending deep behind the Iron Curtain, the center interacted directly with The Pentagon, NATO, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and all USAFE bases.

As a further measure of protection, the cave was fully self-contained with its own water supply, electric backup-generators, climate controls, dining facilities and sleeping accommodations for its 125-man crew.

They always knew the current operational status of air weapons in theater including missiles, and could dispatch armed response "at a moment's notice".

By the early 1960s, the manual plotting system used to track aircraft at the cave and elsewhere throughout West Germany was too slow and inaccurate for the quick responses necessary.

In April 2015, Ramstein Air Base was reported by German and international media as an important control center in the drone war staged under the Obama administration against targets in areas like Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia.

In a TV and online documentary, the German Das Erste channel cited 2014 reports from Norddeutscher Rundfunk, WDR, and the Süddeutsche Zeitung that revealed Ramstein to be an important hub in the drone war against terror suspects.

New data, provided by Edward Snowden affiliate Glenn Greenwald, supported these reports with classified documents from inside the U.S. administration and were also presented in the Citizenfour video documentary.

[15] In 2019, three Yemenis who lost relatives in a 2012 US drone strike took legal action against the German government for aiding the breaking of international law by the United States, by tolerating these operations from Ramstein.

She checked generally accessible sources, on which some of the press articles mentioned were based, and obtained information from the authorities involved in monitoring foreign trade.

[22][23] In late Summer 2021, Ramstein Air Base became the transfer point for thousands of Afghan civilians fleeing Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul back into Taliban hands as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country.

Those who had to stay on the base were cared for in makeshift living centers which were set up to tend to their needs until they could be processed and flown to the United States.

The wing provides rapid mobility and agile combat support for military operations, and maintains expeditionary forces and infrastructure.

There is often a Summer Camp to Ramstein from British CCF (RAF) and ATC cadets, as well as Civil Air Patrol encampments and tours like the ones held in July 2015[30] and June 2016.

The U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) headquarters became the target of a bombing attack at 07:21 on 31 August 1981, carried out by a Red Army Faction commando called 'Sigurd Debus'.

[40] On 29 August 1990, a C-5 Galaxy transport plane had just taken-off from Ramstein AB when a thrust reverser on one of the engines suddenly deployed, causing it to crash immediately after leaving the runway.