721st Air Mobility Operations Group The 721st Air Mobility Operations Group is a United States Air Force ( USAF ) unit assigned to the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing , stationed at Ramstein Air Base , Germany . History . Viet Nam War . The group was initially activated as the 608th Military Airlift Support Squadron during the Vietnam War at Cam Ranh Bay AB , South Vietnam in 1966 . It replaced the 1512th Support Squadron ( Transport ) and assumed the 1512th ' s mission , personnel , and equipment . The squadron managed the strategic aerial port facilities at Cam Ranh Bay from 1966 until the closure and withdrawal of the USAF in 1972 . Air Mobility Support in Germany . The squadron was reactivated in 1977 to operate the Military Airlift Command ( MAC ) aerial port at Ramstein Air Base . It serviced transient C - 5 Galaxy and C - 141 Starlifter transports at Ramstein , loading and unloading cargo and also received airlifted equipment and personnel for United States Army Europe ( USAREUR ) forces units in Germany . In August 1983 , the squadron expanded to group size and was assigned separate aerial port and maintenance squadrons to carry out its mission . It was also assigned its first flying squadron , the 58th Military Airlift Squadron ( MAS ) , which was assigned from the 322d Airlift Division . The assumption of the airlift mission was reflected when the group was redesignated the 608th Military Airlift Group . The 10th MAS at Zweibrücken Air Base which operated C - 23 Sherpa transports in support of USAFE ' s European Distribution System ( EDS ) was also reassigned from the 322d Airlift Division in 1984 . The EDS was organized to give units in Europe a quicker way to receive small equipment items or supplies on a round - the - clock basis , without the expense of the larger cargo aircraft . The group also supported Special Air Transportation of HQ USAFE executives with a fleet of light transport . The 10th MAS was inactivated in 1991 . in 1992 , USAF embarked on a major reorganization of its Major Commands . In this reorganization , theater airlift was reassigned from the inactivating MAC . The host 86th Fighter Wing at Ramstein became the 86th Wing and the 58th MAS was redesignated the 58th Airlift Squadron and assigned to the wing ' s 86th Operations Group . The 608th ' s mission became strategic airlift support once again as it was redesignated the 608th Airlift Support Group of Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) . However , its mission expanded to include support for all of Europe and it was assigned squadrons at Torrejon AB , Spain , and RAF Mildenhall , England . In recognition of its responsibility to support not only airlift , but the air refueling mission of AMC , it became the 621st Air Mobility Support Group in 1994 and was renumbered the because USAF policy required subordinate support units numbers to reflect their parent organization ' s number and the group was assigned to Twenty - First Air Force . It became the 721st Air Mobility Operations Group in 2001 . The group ' s Detachment 5 was located at Balad Air Base with a mission to recover and launch AMC aircraft transiting Balad , minimizing ground time to reduce exposure to enemy attacks , In 2008 , AMC activated the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing at Ramstein . The 521st assumed the theater air mobilty support mission and the squadrons of the 721st located away from Ramstein were reassigned to it ,