page_title: 406th Air Expeditionary Wing
section_title: 406th Tactical Fighter Training Wing
hierarchical_section_title: 406th Air Expeditionary Wing / History / 406th Tactical Fighter Training Wing
caption_attribution_description: English: Patch of 406th Tactical Fighter Training Wing Zaragoza Air Base Spain Source: Scan of author's personal patch/United States Air FOrce
context_page_description: The 406th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe.
  The wing was reactivated in early 2003 as a provisional wing to be used as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, based in Turkey. When Turkey refused to allow its territory to be used as part of the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, It seems likely the 406 AEW was inactivated shortly afterward.
  Sometime afterward, it was possibly reactivated at RAFO Thumrait, Oman, possibly with KC-135 tankers. Possibly later moved to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. Its current status is undetermined.
context_section_description: In February 1970 Project CREEK STEP called for the buildup of Zaragoza Air Base as a USAFE weapons training site, with actual use of the Bardenas Reales Air-to-Ground Bombing and Gunnery Range (about 45 mi/70 km northwest of the base) began in March.
  With the closure of Wheelus Air Base in Libya, Zaragoza returned to active status on 19 February 1970 with the activation of the 86th Air Division.  The 406th was elevated to Wing status on 21 July 1972.  Although the 406th had no permanently assigned aircraft, the Wing provided support to all USAFE tactical aircraft which used the Zaragoza range, as well as deployed SAC and TAC units, as well as allied NATO units.
  Beginning in September 1972, the 406th also operated the USAFE Tactical Forces Employment School, and in May 1976, began operating the USAFE Instructor Pilot School. Weapons training detachments were principally F-4 Phantom II aircraft, although F-111s used the wing's ranges for a short period in 1974, and U.S. Navy A-7 Corsairs used the range facilities in June 1974. During November 1976, the 406th TFTW began full maintenance support of an SAC KC-135 tanker detachment on a permanent basis.  On 12 September 1977, another facet was added to the wing's training operations when it conducted the first Dissimilar air combat training (DACT) missions with USAF and U.S. Navy aircraft
  In 1979, the Instructor Pilot School was closed in July, due to broad changes in USAFE's mission and budget restraints.  On 1 January 1980, the support mission expanded when the 406th assumed responsibility for various functional areas in support of the four USAF tropo-scatter radar sites at Humosa, Mencora, Soller, and Inoges. The wing provided this support in cooperation with the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing assigned to Torrejon AB.
  Foremost among the accomplishments of the 406th TFTW during 1981 was the preparation and planning for reception of the F-16 Weapons Training Detachments which began in 1982. The 512nd TFS of the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ramstein AB, West Germany recorded its first F-16C fighter deployment to the Bardenas Reales Range on 3 April 1986. This represented the initial use of the C-model F-16 aircraft at the range since the newer F-16s were introduced to the European theatre.
  For the rest of the 1980s, the 406th continued to provide support for USAFE crew training and range training exercises. August 1990 ushered in a period of intense activity, as the 406th and Zaragoza provided major air and ground support for Operation Desert Shield, conducted in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Thousands of military personnel and tons of equipment passed through Zaragoza en route to the crisis in the Middle East. The base and the wing continued to act as a major aerial port providing support during and after Operation Desert Storm.
  Subject to the same provisions requiring the removal of other units from Spain, the 406th began efforts to end its operations and return Zaragoza to the Spanish Government in 1992. The use of the training range ended in December 1991, followed by the turnover of base operations to the Spanish in April 1992.
  The 406th Tactical Fighter Training Wing was inactivated on 1 April 1994 when USAFE ended its presence and returned control of Zaragoza Air Base to the Spanish government.
caption: Emblem of the 406th Tactical Fighter Training Wing
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