Ramstein Air Base Tour - Business Insider print Jeremy Bender/Business Insider With its staggering scope and scale, Ramstein Air Base in Germany is one of America's most important and fascinating military facilities. Located in southwestern Germany, it serves not only as the headquarters of the US Air Force in Europe and a NATO installation but also as a gateway to American military operations around the globe. The base is part of a conglomeration of 12 Army and Air Force installations that make up the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC). This community, also known as K-Town, hosts almost 54,000 Americans across 300 neighboring German towns and cities, turning the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany into a tiny slice of America. The area has the largest concentration of Americans outside of the US, though it's also notably multicultural, including personnel from many countries. Over two days in September, Business Insider was given an extensive and breathtaking tour of the base and its operations. Ramstein Air Base Ramstein Air Base Location Welcome to Ramstein AB and the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC).

Ramstein AB is located in Germany, in the Rheinland Pfalz region near the city of Kaiserslautern. Germany is a member of the European Union, situated right in the heart of Europe. Germany has nine neighboring countries that are all within driving distance: Denmark to the north, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and France to the west, Switzerland and Austria to the south, and the Czech Republic and Poland to the east. Germany boasts a variety of landscapes. The Alps lie in the south, and dry sandy lowlands in the north. Rivers and lakes are scattered throughout the entire country. View Larger Map History On January 15, 2004, the redesignated 435th Air Base Wing activated as Ramstein’s new host wing. And the wing’s commander also assumed Kaiserslautern Military Community Commander responsibilities, however, subsequent organizational changes, in 2005, resulted in the 86th Airlift Wing becoming the host wing again and its commander reassuming the KMC Commander position. He subsequently appointed the 435th Air Base Wing Commander as the acting Installation Commander and as the Deputy Community Commander for the Kaiserslautern Military Community.

For more history visit Ramstein’s homepage . Mission The 86th Airlift Wing is the host wing at Ramstein. The wing is trained, ready, and postured to respond with “world-class” airlift and expeditionary combat support, while providing full spectrum airfield operations, superior base services, and exceptional quality of life for the entire Kaiserslautern Military Community and our assigned GSUs — anytime, anywhere! Population Served “K-Town”, as some call it, is known for being the largest American community in Europe. Over 53,000 Americans share this community with inhabitants from over 70 nations. The city’s historical past has been preserved even though it has grown to become one of the largest industrial and marketing cities in Germany. Ramstein, Kapaun and Vogelweh are predominately Air Force communities, which share their services with the other military members of the KMC. Pulaski Barracks, Kleber, Panzer, Daenner, Miesau, Pirmasens, Rhein Ordnance Barracks, Sembach and Landstuhl, and the Army’s Regional Medical Community, all make up this great community.

Sponsorship If you do not have a sponsor, please contact your losing or gaining unit commander’s support staff first and ask for assistance. If this does not work, have your unit commander’s support staff contact the losing Military Personnel Flight Outbound Assignments section for assistance. For up-to-date information on “Getting Here”, “Living Here” and “Leaving Here”, visit the Ramstein AB Portal website “Getting/Living/Leaving here” link located on the Ramstein AB Wing homepage . The homepage can assist with such topics as arrival information and how to handle mail concerns. Temporary Quarters Most newcomers will spend their first night with the Ramstein billeting and lodging service or in the dorm hospitality rooms. Your sponsor most likely has made arrangements for you. If you would like to check on your reservation, please contact the Ramstein Billeting Office, 011-49-6371-47-4920 or the Ramstein Dorm Reception Center, 011-49-6371-47-3676 or DSN 314-480-3676.

Please keep in mind that pets are not allowed in billeting unless you’re residing in the pet-friendly TLF. Relocation Assistance The Ramstein Airman & Family Readiness Center (A&FRC) is open Monday through Friday, from 7:30 am until 4:30 pm. A&FRC can assist newcomers with relocation, employment, and financial information or assistance. The A&FRC can be reached at DSN 314-480-5100 or 011-49-6371-47-5100. There is an Orientation to Germany course offered by the Ramstein Airman and Family Readiness Center for all DoD ID card personnel which focuses on paying German bills and German customs and courtesies. The Base Newcomers’ Orientation is a mandatory formation for military members and encouraged for all other newcomers, including spouses. The A&FRC also hosts a bus tour in the local area, the day after the newcomers orientation. Spouses and family members are also encouraged to participate in this tour. The tour is free except for the pay-as-you-go lunch.

Loan Locker — The Ramstein Family Resource Center (FRC) offers: Household items, small appliances, cookware, eating utensils and futons for loan up to 60 days. Various baby items and a wide assortment of mail order catalogues are also available for check out. Members will need to bring a copy of their orders to check out household good items. Critical Installation Information The official currency in Germany is the Euro. It is suggested you have Euros or a credit card on hand when you PCS. The most frequent issues can be solved if the following items are hand carried. Sealed MPF Package CURRENT Personal Identification Documents for each person Spouse Employment and Education Records Children’s Immunization and School Records Medical Records Additional Bank Checks, Assets Documents, and Financial Records Insurance Documents Passports and Visas Ensure member and/or dependents have the required passports and/or visa prior to final out-processing. Member and/or dependents are not allowed to final out-process without the required passports/visas in hand for themselves (if applicable) and/or dependents. Members electing the accompanied tour will not be permitted to out-process without having the required passports/visas in hand for themselves (if applicable) and/or dependents.

These actions are necessary to prevent unforeseen hardships to the military members and their families. Therefore, as a last reiteration, it is essential, members do not out-process without having the appropriate passports/visas for themselves (if applicable) and/or dependents. Installation Specific Information A tour in Germany, especially in the Kaiserslautern area, is a truly wonderful experience any way you look at it. Getting a good start depends on the preparation you do before you depart your old base and on how much you take advantage of the settling-in services provided one you arrive in Germany. Save money at the Commissary by using the Discount Coupon Center (coupons are valid at the Commissary up to 6 months PAST the expiration date). Newcomers and PCSers can take advantage of the Bulletin Board to advertise items for sale. Commander’s Support Staff (CSS) personnel can pick up items to include in Sponsor or Newcomer packages. Requests for 10 packages or more must be reserved in advance. Please note: The FSC does not collate materials, provide folders, or envelopes for Sponsor packages.

Information and Referral has developed a community database full of resources available in the Kaiserslautern Military Community, both on and off military installations. The data base is continuously updated with new resources. Activities and class information are advertised through flyers, the Kaiserslautern American Newspaper, AFN radio and TV, along with the Ramstein Community Calendar. You can also visit the Ramstein homepage for information. Ramstein AB Getting Around - Gateway - Ramstein GO TO TELEPHONE DIRECTORY Ramstein, the largest US Air Force base in Germany, is not only the headquarters of the United States Air Forces Europe, but also the central airlift hub for the European Theater and a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) installation. As the headquarters it exercises day-to-day command and control over all USAFE units from Great Britain to Turkey. As the airlift hub it operates a gigantic passenger terminal to rival the ones at commercial airports. And it soon is to be the home of a huge shopping/community center, right across the street from the new passenger center.

The base, located in the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz, opened in 1952 following construction under the provisions of a reciprocal agreement with France, which was then the occupying authority in this part of Germany. Rheinland-Pfalz, in the southwest corner of Germany, is the country's main wine growing region and also the location of its largest unbroken stretch of forest, the Pfalzerwald. The air base is part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC), home of more than 57,000 Americans and the largest American community outside of the U.S. Ramstein, Kapaun, Air Station and Vogelweh are the predominately Air Force communities within KMC. As a NATO installation, Ramstein has Canadian, German, British, French, Belgian, Polish, Czech, Norwegian, Danish and Dutch military personnel in addition to the Americans. The base's beginnings are colorful. Its construction came as no surprise to the local inhabitants who were no strangers to airpower. The Luftwaffe had converted a section of the local autobahn into an airstrip at the beginning of World War II. The advancing U.S.

Army Air Forces also used the airstrip during the final months of the conflict. When it opened in 1952, the base served as the home for the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing and its fleet of F-84F Thunderstreaks. For a while Ramstein was headquarters of the Seventeenth Air Force, but that headquarters moved to nearby Sembach Air Base in 1972 to make room for United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) Headquarters, which moved to Ramstein AB from Lindsay Air Station, Wiesbaden. Ramstein had a major change of mission in 1994, when it switched roles from a fighter base to an airlift one. The handling of passengers and cargo switched there from Rhein Main Air Base, making necessary the construction of the new passenger terminal. Features of it include automated luggage handling and passenger bridges for boarding planes right from the terminal. It also has air conditioning, dining and shopping facilities, a children's play area and a TV lounge. The host unit at Ramstein is the 86th Airlift Wing, whose commander also serves as the Kaiserslautern Military Community commander. For more information visit the base's website at .

Einsiederlerhof Air Station Einsiederlerhof Air Station hosts the Warrior Preparation Center (WPC), a fully functional, computer-assisted war-gaming center, providing operational-level training and exercises to US and NATO staffs worldwide. The WPC was initiated and is directed by both USAFE and USAREUR. Kapaun Air Station Another element of the Vogelweh complex is Kapaun Air Station, an Air Force facility. Among its units is the Kisling NCO Academy, which provides professional military education to Air Force NCOs. The school is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and each graduate earns 10 semester hours of college credit through the Community College of the Air Force. The school is named in honor the late Richard D. Kisling, who had a distinguished career as an Air Force NCO and rose to become Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. The Defense Commissary Agency also has its headquarters on Kapaun. The Air Force also has a number of facilities in Vogelweh.

Services and Facilities Ramstein Air Base, Kapaun AS, Vogelweh AAFES The KMC Consolidated Exchange covers the military communities in Ramstein Air Base, Sembach, Panzer Kaserne, Daenner Kaserne, Kleber Kaserne, Kaiserslautern Vogelweh, Pulaski Barracks, Kapaun Air Station, Rhine Ordnance Barracks, Miesau Army Depot, Landstuhl Hospital and Baumholder. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), now referred to as the Exchange, is a major part of the big Kaiserslautern Military Community Center (KMCC) at Ramstein. The KMCC is a retail and entertainment center housing state-of-the-art shopping, dining and entertainment options. There is also a 350-room hotel, Outdoor Recreation Center with a climbing wall and parking for 2,800 cars. The Exchange Main Store at the KMCC has a large number of departments common to most large department stores in the USA. The KMCC itself is modeled after a large mall.

A food court offers all your American favorites, such as Baskin Robbins ice cream, Subway, burgers, pizzas,Taco Bell, Starbucks and Cinnabon and also some new food fare including Chinese specialties, seafood, and a 50s Diner: Johnny Rockets. If you want to relax, you can enjoy the new massage and wellness spa. Or you can drop in for a cappuccino or browse the largest bookstore and Internet café in Europe. You'll find a wide variety of unique gifts and European souvenirs throughout the mall. The stadium seating in the new 4 PLEX Theater will be just like you find back home, offering movies throughout the afternoon and evening. The Exchange Express stores are scattered throughout the KMC. You'll find them on the south side of Ramstein and at Kleber, Kapaun, Landstuhl, Pulaski and Sembach. Many are open longer than the Main BX. AFN AFN Kaiserslautern , presenting a great variety of TV and radio programming, is the local station of the American Forces Network, Europe.

Located in the heart of the Kaiserslautern Military Community, it serves more than 57,000 American military, their families and Department of Defense civilians. AFN Kaiserslautern operates with a staff of local nationals, DoD Civilians, US Army and US Air Force Personnel. From its facilities in Vogelweh, it broadcasts the primary television signal for AFN in the KMC. It also produces a daily newscast, promotes local events and command information through radio and television commercials, and airs more than 64 hours of live radio programming every week. AFN Television (and some AFN radio) is received via cable on government housing areas and via satellite at off post/base locations. The AFN radio stations (The Eagle) is broadcast over the air at 100.2 FM. AFN Radio also streams a larger number of shows and content over the internet. The telephone numbers for AFN Kaiserslautern are DSN 489-7206 or CIV 0631-536-7206.

Airman and Family Support Services Airman & Family Readiness Center (A&FRC) The Airman & Family Readiness Center (A&FRC) in Building 2120 offers services to personnel and their families through core programs that offer workshops, special events and one-on-one consultations. The programs include: Relocation Assistance - Established to make the move to your new base as smooth as possible. Transition Assistance - Available for active duty members, civil service employees and their family members who are separating from the military or civil service. Key Spouse Program Air Force Wounded Warrior Program Volunteers Resources - There are many opportunities for volunteers. Many are administrative or clerical. Volunteers may be able to be placed in their area of job interest to enhance their knowledge and skills in that particular area. Personal & Family Life Education - A practical approach to building and maintaining healthy relationships. Personal Personal Financial Management Program - A counselor can help prepare a personalized budget and spending plan. Assistance is also available in areas such as military pay and allowances, consumer rip-offs, savings, insurance, car buying, the financial aspects of home buying and credit card management.

The Air Force Aid Society - The official charity of the Air Force, helps out in emergencies through interest-free loans or grants for basic needs such as emergency leave, medical emergencies, car repairs and respite childcare. Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) -A mandatory program for family members (child or adult) with any physical, emotional, developmental or intellectual disability that requires special treatment, therapy, education, training or counseling. Employment Assistance & Career Focus Programs Personal & Family Readiness Program - Offers a wide array of support services to military members and their families throughout the entire deployment process. Arts & Crafts The Arts & Crafts Center in Building 522 features a wood-craft area, frame shop, craft store, and engraving center. We also offer a variety of classes for adults and children. Monthly class schedules are available at the center and include ceramics, pottery, cake decorating, scrap booking, framing, and more. Automotive Centers There are three Ramstein Automotive Centers : the Auto Annex, the Auto Hobby Shop and Auto Recycling. The Auto Hobby Shop offers self-help bays and lifts, a car wash and coin-operated vacuums. The Auto Annex provides professional mechanical diagnoses and repairs, performed by certified mechanics.

The Auto Recycling offers vehicle disposal and parts pulling, along with a towing service. Banks & Credit Unions Full service Community Banks on Ramstein Air Base are located at the KMCC and in Building 2163. There is also a bank at the Vogelweh Commissary. ATMs are in the Base Commissary, the Officer's Club, the Enlisted Club, the North Post Office, the Food court at the KMCC and in the KMCC Hotel. Service Credit Unions are at the KMCC and in Building 2410 on Ramstein. Child & Youth Services The Child Development Centers provide weekly care for children ages six weeks to five years. There are also family day care programs at the homes of certified providers through Family Child Care (FCC). Hourly care is available on a limited basis. KMC Youth Instructional programs offer a wide variety of programs for youth and families. They offer classes in dance, gymnastics, martial arts, yoga, acting, musical instruments, singing and other special specialties. Classes are conducted on Ramstein Air Base (RAB) and the Vogelweh Military Complex (VMC) and class locations vary.

The School Age Program provides before and after school care, camps during winter, spring and summer breaks and daily care for school holidays. Locations are on Ramstein, Vogelweh and Kapaun. The School Age Program is COA accredited. The Teen Centers offer a variety of activities ranging from video games, pool, ping-pong, real-2-real, dances and lock-ins. There are also clubs that young adults can join. The Centers are on Ramstein AB in Building 411 and at Vogelweh Building 2059. The Youth Centers sponsor many events and offer a wide range of programs for kids and families. Sports programs are a big part of the offerings. Both Centers have their own gymnasium. Another part is a number of after school clubs. The Youth Centers are in Building 428 on Ramstein and Building 1057 in Vogelweh. Youth Sports Programs operates sports and fitness programs for organized seasonal sports such as football, soccer, baseball, softball, basketball, swimming and cheerleading. Civilian Personnel Office For those seeking civil service employment in the area and other jobs. Located in Building 2120.

Commissaries The Defense Commissary Agency Europe (DeCA) is headquartered at Kapaun Air Station in Kaiserslautern, and two of the biggest commissaries under its control are at Ramstein and Vogelweh . Both stores are seven-day operations with ample shopping space and numerous checkouts, including four self-checkouts. They each have an ATM, bakery, deli, fresh sandwiches to go, hot foods department, party cakes, plants, rotisserie chicken and a salad bar. There is a smaller commissary on Sembach Kaserne open Monday - Friday. Dining & Entertainment Dining There is no lack of eateries and great entertainment on Ramstein Air Base, in addition to the Food Court and other restaurants in and near the KMCC. Romano's' Macaroni Grill is a top notch Italian restaurant open 7 days a week and located inside the KMCC. The Enlisted Club in Building 2140 has a Chili's, the E' Street Café on base and at Vogelweh Crossroads. There is a J.R. Rockers Sports Café in the Club. The Enlisted Club also has rooms and a full catering menu available for special occasions or ceremonies.

Reflections is equipped with over 70 entertainment machines and a full service bar as well as food served from J.R. Rockers. The Wi-Fi Lounge is a private area downstairs with free Internet access. Karaoke, Football Madness, poker tournaments and other great activities are on tap at the club. It is also the location of the Tadros Shop that offers home décor items, paintings, mirrors and other products. The Officer's Club in Building 302 is a multi-facility dining and entertainment complex. It has The La Casa Dolce Coffee Shop and the Wings Lounge. There is a daily lunch buffet in the Rheinland-Pfalz Dining Room. The Club hosts the Lifestyle and More Vinothek. It offers professional catering for functions and events and has a gaming room. Military Dining Facilities include the Rhineland Inn (Building 2107), the Jawbone Flight Kitchen (Building 3332, next to the Passenger Terminal) and the Lindberg Hof (Building 2791 on Kapaun). The Community Centers on Ramstein and in Vogleweh also offer food. The Flying Pig Barbeque and the Pizza Gallerie are both located there.

The Woodlawn Grill "On the Greens" is the restaurant at the golf course. It specializes in quick grill items and soups salads and is open for breakfast and lunch. Both the Bowling Centers at Ramstein and Vogelweh have snack bars - the Open Frame at Ramstein and a Subway at Vogelweh . The NATO International Dining Facility (Building 313) is accessible to all U.S. military, dependent and retired ID card holders, and to all personnel with a valid installation pass. The facility is open from 11:30 AM to 1 PM Mondays through Fridays and offers three different meals each day along with a salad bar. The coffee bar is open from 8 to 11:30 AM and from 1 to 2:30 PM. The Deutsches Haus restaurant is on the ground floor of building 544 on Ramstein Air Base. It is operated by the German element of NATO on base and offers a variety of German fare. It's open for lunch and dinner Monday - Thursday and for lunch on Fridays.

Entertainment First-class community centers in Ramstein and Vogelweh offer a relaxed atmosphere featuring tournaments in pool, table tennis and chess, special events, television rooms and much more. Musical equipment, games and other items can also be checked out for use in the centers. Concert tickets are sold and one-day tours are also organized. There are also murder mystery dinners and theater performances. Language classes are available, too. Services offered also include sending and receiving Faxes, table and chair rentals for private functions, mailbox rental and free computer and Wi-Fi access. On Ramstein there is Celebrations - a Balloon and Gift shop. MOMS Movies and Music has outlets on Ramstein and Vogelweh. Just about everything for your for entertainment needs is available. MOMS is an all-in-one stop shop for pictures, movies, instruments, and navigational systems. There are weekly new movie releases and Wednesday rental specials. MOMS also offers special DVD/Blu-ray movie ordering. The Ramstein location has a photo lab for official photo processing, passport photos, photo restoration and digital photo processing. Education The Ramstein Education Center is located in Building 2120.

There are counselors to assist local Air Force members, civilian personnel and families with their educational needs. Several colleges and universities offer a variety of undergraduate and graduate degree programs. They include: Central Texas College , University of Maryland , University of Oklahoma , University of Phoenix and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University . Representatives of these schools normally have offices in the Education Center. Emergency Relief Services American Red Cross offices provide an Emergency Communications Service 24/7/365 for active duty, family members and civilians and their families. There are emergency relief services available through the Airman and Family Readiness Center on Ramstein. Health Services Although many medical specialties are available at the Ramstein Medical Treatment Facility (Building 2114), all in-patient care is at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (15 minutes away). A clinic provides dental care for non-flying military members and their families. Dental care for family members is limited because of space limits and the needs of the active duty population. Housing Family housing is available on Ramstein AB and in Vogelweh. Depending on rank, neighborhood preference and number of dependents, housing will consist of two to four bedroom stairwell apartments and/or townhouses.

There are also off-post housing opportunities. Check with the Housing Office for details on availability. The housing office for the KMC is located in Building 1001 at Vogelweh. Customer Service hours are Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Friday 8 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Legal Assistance The Ramstein Legal Office staff provides free legal assistance to service members, Department of Defense civilian employees assigned overseas, Department of Defense Contractors who have "SOFA status," and their dependents. It is located in Building 2137. Libraries The Ramstein and Vogelweh Libraries offer an extensive array of materials and resources to include the latest bestsellers, periodicals, newspapers, journals, CDs and DVDs. The Ramstein Library has over 70,000 books and subscriptions to over 100 newspapers and magazines, while the Vogelweh Library offers an inventory of over 10,000 books. The libraries also have computers and printers and offer free Wi-FI with high speed Internet access.

Lodging The Ramstein Inn has two facilities on the base - the General Cannon Hotel (Building 1018) with 12 distinguished visitor/business suites, and Ramstein Inns-Ramstein with 1,050 rooms. These include VQ, DVQ, temporary lodging facilities and pet-friendly temporary lodging. The facilities are in 20 buildings throughout the base. Other Ramstein facilities are at Vogelweh and Landstuhl. Postal Services There are three Air Force postal facilities in the KMC. Ramstein North Side Post Office (Building 426), Ramstein South Side Post Office (Building 2110) and the Kapaun Air Station Post Office (Building 2763). POV Registration The field registration station is in the Vehicle Registration Building 2806 at Kapaun. Recreation & Travel Ramstein's Woodlawn Golf Course is an 18-hole championship course that ranks with the very best in Germany, and membership rates are reasonable. The Kaiserslautern Rod and Gun Club in Vogelweh provides activities including paintball, archery, skeet/trap shooting and rifle and pistol shooting.

It also has a retail store offering paintball equipment, fishing equipment, firearms and knives. Archery, hunting, fishing and sport shooting courses are offered throughout the year. It is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Rod and Gun Club is operated by the Air Force's 86th Force Support Squadron . RTT Travel is a full-service leisure travel agency. It is located at the KMCC and open Monday - Saturday. Skating Rink The Skate Express offers open skating for all ages. In addition, it has a snack bar, video games and equipment sales and rental. Ramstein Outdoor Recreation Center is at the KMCC (Building 3336). Its retail operation offers a large selection of outdoor clothing and equipment as well as bikes and equipment, camping gear, fitness apparel and snowboarding and skiing gear. Rental equipment is also available. You can book hiking, biking ski and snowboard trips and tours. There is a rock- climbing wall, too! The Ramstein Bowling Center (Building 2139) has 32 lanes, a pro shop and slot machine game room as well as a snack bar. It is open seven days a week.

The Crossroads Skating Rink is across from the Commissary at Vogelweh. It was recently renovated and upgraded. Skate rentals are available. There is an E' Street Café and DJ Station. Private conference rooms are available. Religious activities There are KMC Air Force Chapels on Ramstein AB. The North Chapel is in Building 1201 and the South Chapel is in Building 2403. There are chapels in Vogelweh (Building 2063) and on Kapaun Air Station (Buildings 2781/2782). They offer not only Catholic and Protestant services, but also other services including Jewish, Islamic and other denominations. Schools - DoDEA-Europe There are 11 schools in the Kaiserslautern Military Community.

They are Kaiserslautern Elementary School (K-5), Kaiserslautern Middle School (6-8), Kaiserslautern High School (9-12) Landstuhl Elementary/Middle (K-6), Vogelweh Elementary School (K-5), Sembach Elementary School (K-3) and Sembach Middle School (4-8). On Ramstein Air Base there is a High School, (9-12) Middle School (6-8), Intermediate School (3-5) and Elementary School (K-2). All schools are located near government housing areas. The school your children attend will depend on where you live, not where you work. Students who live on base walk to school; all others ride the bus. Government-contracted buses provide school bus transportation. It is recommended that before you rent quarters on the economy you check with the housing office to determine if the residence is along an established school bus route. Sports & Fitness Sports enthusiasts have three Fitness Centers available, each with a basketball court, weight lifting rooms, cardio equipment, saunas, locker and shower facilities for men and women and racquetball courts and other amenities and activities.

The Ramstein Aquatic Center has 3 indoor pools - a 25-meter fitness pool with lap lanes and diving board, a wading pool and a recreation pool with water slides and a playground. Various programs are offered as well as SCUBA classes. It is in Building 422 on Ramstein and open 6 days a week (closed on Mondays). A full range of intramural and base-level sports programs are offered. The Gear Up Sports Store provides clothing, shoes and accessories for many sports. It is in Building 2113 on Ramstein. VAT Services VAT (Mehrwertsteuer) relief forms can be processed on Ramstein AB at Building 2108. Veterinary Services The Kaiserslautern Veterinary Treatment Facility is located in Building 2928, Pulaski Barracks. You need an appointment to have your pet registered and seen. Services include health certificates, annual examinations, vaccinations, fecal examinations, heartworm testing, laboratory workup and surgeries. There are also a number of German vets in the area that can take care of your pets if they require care that can't be delivered by the post facility. Emergency cases are referred to German vets.

Where is Ramstein? > Ramstein Air Base > Display PRINT | E-MAIL Ramstein Air Base is located in the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz in the southwest corner of Germany, near the city of Kaiserslautern. The base is a little more than 80 miles southwest of Frankfurt, Germany, and 295 miles northeast of Paris, France. The area is the main wine growing region for Germany and also known for the largest connected forest, the Palatinate Forest. K-Town as some call it, is known for being the largest American community outside of the United States. Over 50,000 Americans share this community with inhabitants from over 70 nations. The city's historical past has been preserved even though it has grown to become one of the largest industrial and marketing cities in Germany. Click here for information on transportation guidlines and directions to Ramstein. -------------------------- UNITS ON RAMSTEIN Ramstein is one of over a dozen military installations in the area, making up the Kaiserslautern Military Community Ramstein Air Base, Germany, serves as headquarters for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and is also a North Atlantic Treaty Organization installation.

The host unit at Ramstein is the 86th Airlift Wing, whose mission is to conduct USAFE's only airlift, airdrop and aeromedical evacuation operations flying the C-20H, C-21, C-37, C-40B and C-130J aircraft, as well as provide combat airlift and operate the Air Force's premier installation to enable and assure strategic capabilities. In addition to USAFE and the NATO Allied Air Component Command Headquarters, the following units reside on Ramstein: 3rd Air Force; the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing (USAFE's first wing solely dedicated to supporting battlefield Airmen); the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing (providing Air Mobility Command's command and control, en route maintenance support, and air transportation services for theater and strategic air mobility missions in Europe and Southwest Asia); and a variety of tenant organizations. As a NATO installation Ramstein is home to 21 other NATO countries as well, with German, Canadian, British, French, Belgian, and Dutch forces making up the bulk of them.

Germany is the Tell-Tale Heart of America’s Drone War Germany is the Tell-Tale Heart of America’s Drone War 2015-04-17T16:07:35+00:00 This is a joint investigation with the German news magazine Der Spiegel . A TOP-SECRET U.S. intelligence document obtained by The Intercept confirms that the sprawling U.S. military base in Ramstein, Germany serves as the high-tech heart of America’s drone program. Ramstein is the site of a satellite relay station that enables drone operators in the American Southwest to communicate with their remote aircraft in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and other targeted countries. The top-secret slide deck, dated July 2012, provides the most detailed blueprint seen to date of the technical architecture used to conduct strikes with Predator and Reaper drones. Amid fierce European criticism of America’s targeted killing program, U.S. and German government officials have long downplayed Ramstein’s role in lethal U.S. drone operations and have issued carefully phrased evasions when confronted with direct questions about the base. But the slides show that the facilities at Ramstein perform an essential function in lethal drone strikes conducted by the CIA and the U.S.

military in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa. The slides were provided by a source with knowledge of the U.S. government’s drone program who declined to be identified because of fears of retribution. According to the source, Ramstein’s importance to the U.S. drone war is difficult to overstate. “Ramstein carries the signal to tell the drone what to do and it returns the display of what the drone sees. Without Ramstein, drones could not function, at least not as they do now,” the source said. The new evidence places German Chancellor Angela Merkel in an awkward position given Germany’s close diplomatic alliance with the United States. The German government has granted the U.S. the right to use the property, but only under the condition that the Americans do nothing there that violates German law. The U.S. government maintains that its drone strikes against al Qaeda and its “associated forces” are legal, even outside of declared war zones. But German legal officials have suggested that such operations are only justifiable in actual war zones.

Moreover, Germany has the right to prosecute “criminal offenses against international law … even when the offense was committed abroad and bears no relation to Germany,” according to Germany’s Code of Crimes against International Law, which passed in 2002. This means that American personnel stationed at Ramstein could, in theory, be vulnerable to German prosecution if they provide drone pilots with data used in attacks. While the German government has been reluctant to pursue such prosecutions, it may come under increasing pressure to do so. “It is simply murder,” says Björn Schiffbauer of the Institute for International Law at the University of Cologne. Legal experts interviewed by Der Spiegel claimed that U.S. personnel could be charged as war criminals by German prosecutors. A top-secret slide confirms the central role Germany plays in the U.S. drone war. RAMSTEIN IS ONE of the largest U.S. military bases outside the United States, hosting more than 16,000 military and civilian personnel. The relay center at Ramstein, which was completed in late 2013, sits in the middle of a massive forest and is adjacent to a baseball diamond used by students at the Ramstein American High School.

The large compound, made of reinforced concrete and masonry walls and enclosed in a horseshoe of trees, has a sloped metal roof. Inside this building, air force squadrons can coordinate the signals necessary for a variety of drone surveillance and strike missions. On two sides of the building are six massive golf ball-like fixtures known as satellite relay pads. In a 2010 budget request for the Ramstein satellite station, the U.S. Air Force asserted that without the Germany-based facility, the drone program could face “significant degradation of operational capability” that could “have a serious impact on ongoing and future missions.” Predator and Reaper drones, as well as Global Hawk aircraft, would “use this site to conduct operations” in Africa and the Middle East, according to the request. It stated bluntly that without the use of Ramstein, drone “weapon strikes cannot be supported.” “Because of multi-theater-wide operations, the respective SATCOM Relay Station must be located at Ramstein Air Base to provide most current information to the war-fighting commander at any time demanded,” according to the request.

The relay station, according to that document, would also be used to support the operations of a secretive black ops Air Force program known as “Big Safari.” The classified slide deck maps out an intricate spider web of facilities across the U.S. and the globe: from drone command centers on desert military bases in the U.S. to Ramstein to outposts in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Qatar and Bahrain and back to NSA facilities in Washington and Georgia. What is clear is that most paths within America’s drone maze run through Ramstein. Transatlantic cables connect U.S. drone pilots to their aircraft half a world away. (Josh Begley) Creech Air Force Base in Nevada is central to multiple prongs of the U.S. drone war. Personnel stationed at the facility are responsible for drone operations in Afghanistan — which has been on the receiving end of more drone strikes than any country in the world — and Pakistan , where the CIA has conducted a covert air war for the last decade. The agency’s campaign has killed thousands of people, including hundreds of civilians. Some drone missions are operated from other locations, such as Fort Gordon in Georgia and Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico.

The pilots at Creech and other ground control stations send their commands to the drones they operate via transatlantic fiber optic cables to Germany, where the Ramstein uplink bounces the signal to a satellite that connects to drones over Yemen, Somalia and other target countries. Ramstein is ideally situated as a satellite relay station to minimize the lag time between the commands of the pilots and their reception by the aircraft, called latency. Too much latency — which would be caused by additional satellite relays — would make swift maneuvers impossible. Video images from a drone could not be delivered to the U.S. in near real time. Without the speed and precise control an installation like Ramstein allows, pilots would practically be flying blind. A diagram in the secret document shows how the process works. Ramstein’s satellite uplink station is used to route communications between the pilots and aircraft deployed in a variety of countries. Video from the drones is routed back through Ramstein and then relayed to a variety of U.S. intelligence and military facilities around the U.S. and the globe. Another diagram shows how pilots at Creech connect to Ramstein and then to the Predator Primary Satellite Link, which facilitates direct control of the drone wherever it is operating.

All of this — location, combined with the need to securely house the large quantities of equipment, buildings and personnel necessary to operate the satellite uplink — has made Ramstein one of the most viable sites available to the U.S. to serve this critical function in the drone war. When the prominent German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and the German public television broadcaster ARD published an expose on Ramstein in May 2013 and alleged that the base was being used to facilitate drone strikes, it created a massive controversy in Germany. The report spurred parliamentary investigations and calls for the U.S. to explain exactly what it was doing at the base. In response, the German and U.S. governments mischaracterized the reporting and the German government claimed it had no hard evidence of Ramstein’s role in lethal strikes. A month later, in a June 2013 speech in Berlin, President Obama addressed the issue of Ramstein’s role in the drone war. He did not mention that the satellite relay facility at Ramstein enables U.S. drone strikes.

Instead, he denied a claim that the journalists had not made: “We do not use Germany as a launching point for unmanned drones … as part of our counterterrorism activities,” Obama said. President Barack Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel (Chris Hyde/Getty Images) In response to questions for this article, Pentagon spokesman Maj. James Brindle echoed the precise language of previous government statements. “We maintain robust civilian and military cooperation with Germany and manage all base activities in accordance with the agreements made between the United States and German governments,” he said. “The Air and Space Operations Center at Ramstein Air Base conducts operational level planning, monitoring and assessment of assigned airpower missions throughout Europe and Africa, but does not directly fly or control any manned or remotely piloted aircraft.” The German government has issued similar statements, saying no drone pilots are based at Ramstein and no drones are launched from the base. “The U.S. government has confirmed that such armed and remote aircrafts are not flown or controlled from U.S. bases in Germany,” government spokesperson Steffen Seibert said last year. In 2013, members of the Bundestag, the German parliament, submitted written questions to their federal government. “To the knowledge of the Federal Government, is it true that U.S.

drone attacks in Africa could not be carried out without a special satellite relay station for unmanned flying objects in Ramstein?” the lawmakers asked. “The Federal Government has no reliable information in this regard,” read the official reply. Pressed further on the satellite facility and its purpose, the government replied: “The Federal Government has no information regarding the installation of the satellite system or when it started operating.” Internal German government communications provided to The Intercept by Der Spiegel show how some German officials tried and failed to get the government to confront the U.S. about what connection facilities in Germany had to drone strikes. According to a June 2013 document, a senior Foreign Office official, Emily Haber, advocated demanding a clear answer from Washington about the role U.S. facilities in Germany played in drone strikes. Haber was overruled: “The Federal Chancellery and the Defense Ministry would prefer to ‘sit out’ the pressure from parliament and the public,” the response read. The unofficial German-U.S. agreement appears to amount to a “don’t ask, don’t tell” understanding.

While most, if not all, of the official statements by both governments may be technically true, it is also true that without the base, it would be very difficult for the United States to sustain the current drone war. The slide deck contains an array of arrows showing the complex system used to operate drones across the world. In the end, all arrows point to Ramstein. “Everything relies on Ramstein and Creech as central hubs for communication” in both armed and unarmed drone operations, says the source. Aside from the possibility of using an undisclosed satellite uplink station, the only drone operations that would not rely on Ramstein in these regions would be those conducted via aircraft that have a line of sight to a ground control station. A top-secret slide deck obtained by The Intercept shows the complex architecture of the U.S. drone program. HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS in Germany, as well as opposition politicians, have long suspected that Ramstein has played a direct role in the U.S. drone war. They have called on the German government to stop allowing the armed U.S. drone program to operate from German soil. Lt. Gen.

David Deptula, the former director of the Combined Air Operations Center, accused such critics of the drone program of being influenced by “misinformation that’s provided by terrorist organizations that these things are being effective against.” Deptula oversaw the implementation of the U.S. armed drone program starting in 2001. In an interview with The Intercept, he defended the use of drones. “Operations conducted by remotely piloted aircraft really are the most accurate and precise means of applying force,” Deptula says. “Why would the Germans want to shut down operations that effectively provide information to increase situational awareness of a community of nations that are trying to combat terrorism?” Kat Craig, the legal director at Reprieve, an international human rights organization that represents victims of drone strikes in Yemen and elsewhere, said the notion that critics of the drone program are being manipulated by propaganda from terrorist organizations “would be laughable, were it not so offensive towards civilian victims of drone strikes.” A new report from The Open Society Foundations, published this month, studied nine U.S. drone strikes in Yemen and found that 26 civilians were killed, including several children and a pregnant woman.

“It has become all too clear that, too often, those carrying out the strikes simply do not know who they are hitting,” Craig said. “This misguided campaign has been allowed free rein because it has been kept hidden from public scrutiny.” Yemenis gather around a burned car after it was torched by a drone strike on January 26, 2015. Among the dead was a teenage boy. (AFP/Getty Images) WHILE THE GERMAN government has so far managed to dodge questions on Ramstein’s role in drone strikes, the country’s judicial system may not have that option. Two related cases have been winding their way through the German legal system. In 2010, a German citizen was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan. Two years later, a federal prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation “to examine whether Bünyamin Erdogan’s violent death qualified as a war crime under Germany’s international criminal code.” The case was later dropped after investigators determined that at the time he was killed by a missile fired from a drone, Erdogan was not considered a civilian protected under international law.

Rather, they asserted that he had been a “member of an organized, armed group that participated as a party in an armed conflict.” Pakistan, according to German interpretations of international law, is considered a war zone in cases involving known militants in certain areas. German courts haven’t established whether other targeted countries, such as Yemen and Somalia, qualify as war zones. Last October, a Yemeni man whose relatives were killed in a 2012 U.S. drone strike filed a lawsuit against the German government. Faisal bin Ali Jaber said his brother-in-law, a well-respected moderate imam known for his anti-al Qaeda sermons, and his nephew were killed in a strike. Jaber claimed the strike would not have been possible without the use of the satellite relay facility at Ramstein. “Were it not for the help of Germany and Ramstein, men like my brother-in-law and nephew might still be alive today. It is quite simple: without Germany, U.S. drones would not fly,” Jaber said at the time.

“I am here to ask that the German people and Parliament be told the full extent of what is happening in their country, and that the German government stop Ramstein being used to help the U.S.’s illegal and devastating drone war in my country.” A member of Jaber’s legal team accused Germany of “hiding behind status-of-forces agreements,” saying the government should “admit its responsibility for civilian deaths caused by U.S. drone warfare.” In response to the suit, the German defense ministry submitted a reply on behalf of the government, which is named as the defendant in the case. “The defendant denies, by claiming ignorance, that the satellite-relay-station in use on the air base transfers field data of unmanned aerial vehicles from Yemen to the U.S. or to other unmanned aerial vehicles and that the air base is a fundamental hub for the data transfer necessary to operate unmanned aerial vehicles in Yemen,” read the January 20 filing.

As for the suit’s demand that Germany prevent the relay station at Ramstein from facilitating drone strikes, the German government stated that it could not be expected to act “as a ‘global public prosecutor’ towards other sovereign states and punish alleged infringements outside of their own sovereign territory.” However, some legal scholars in Germany aren’t satisfied with that response. They argue that if U.S. personnel based at Ramstein are involved in what the government considers an extra-judicial killing in a non-declared war zone, they would not be entitled to immunity — at least not on German soil. The NATO Status of Forces Agreement explicitly grants German authorities the right to investigate members of the U.S. military suspected of having committed a crime. To date, German prosecutors have shown little interest in pursuing such action. The German government position boils down to this: We have asked the U.S. if they are violating any agreements or laws and the Americans have said no. Case closed. “What happens between the U.S., Ramstein and the drones is a division of labor in different locations,” says Wolfgang Kaleck, the head of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, one of the organizations bringing the Yemen suit against the German government.

“The German government doesn’t ask tough questions because they obviously don’t want to know what really happens.” Predator drone in Southern Afghanistan, 2006. Most drone pilots operate in the U.S., but depend on Ramstein to control their aircraft. (Veronique de Viguerie/Getty Images) Getty Images GERMANY HAS FIGURED prominently in the American drone war from the very beginning. In 2000, the U.S. Air Force launched an initiative to explore arming drones, the same year that the CIA — contemplating the assassination of Osama bin Laden — began using unarmed Predators to try to track the high-value target. It was through this surveillance project that a scientist working with the CIA and the U.S. military devised a prototype for what would become the system for operating drones from half a world away that endures to this day. Originally called “split operations,” the method involved drone pilots operating from Ramstein, while the actual aircraft would fly out of an airfield in Afghanistan’s neighbor Uzbekistan. From there, the drones could record live video over a complex near Kandahar where bin Laden was suspected of residing.

“They chose Ramstein because that was the most convenient place where they could be on a very secure location and still reach a satellite that had a footprint that covered Afghanistan,” says Richard Whittle, author of the book Predator: The Secret Origins of the Drone Revolution. “And that worked.” The successful development of the split operations was welcomed by those within the U.S. intelligence community who were pushing for authorities to assassinate bin Laden — it would make their mission easier to accomplish. But plans to assassinate bin Laden with a Hellfire missile launched from a drone piloted from Ramstein hit a snag. “A Defense Department lawyer raised the issue that you couldn’t pull the trigger from German soil under the U.S. Status of Forces Agreement without telling the German government you were going to do it and getting their permission,” says Whittle. Fearing that the German government of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder would reject the proposal or that the existence of the facility and the plot to kill bin Laden would leak, the CIA went back to the drawing board. “You have to remember at that time, the whole idea of assassinating Osama bin Laden had a different feel to it than it did later after 9/11,” Whittle told The Intercept. “He was barely known among the general public.

The whole idea of the CIA running a targeted killing was entirely different and there was a lot of hesitation.” The CIA considered moving the ground control station to a ship in the ocean or to another European location. But all of those scenarios would come with risks and technical complications. In the end, the CIA decided to position pilots at a ground control station within CIA headquarters in Langley and then use fiber optic underwater cables to facilitate lightning fast communications between pilots in the U.S. and the drones they would control. The cable to Germany would be the artery connecting the pilots to the planes that would hunt bin Laden and other terror suspects. It would run from the U.S. to Ramstein, which would house a powerful satellite uplink that could hit satellites in Afghanistan. But the key was that the actual commands to deploy drones as weapons would be issued from American not German soil, thus freeing the U.S. from the obligation to get the Germans’ approval for the mission. The system was called “remote split operations.” Soon after taking office in 2009, President Obama authorized an expansion of the drone war, including opening new fronts in Somalia and Yemen. But the U.S. military discovered a gap in its satellite coverage.

So, in early 2009, after “an urgent call from the Pentagon’s Joint staff,” a commercial satellite provider, Intelsat, shifted its Galaxy-26 satellite from the U.S. to orbit over the Indian Ocean. This repositioning of the Galaxy-26, which could be reached by U.S. drone operators by using the relay station at Ramstein, facilitated the rapid expansion of the U.S. drone program. Former drone sensor operator Brandon Bryant, who conducted operations in Yemen, Afghanistan and Iraq, said that without Ramstein, the U.S. would either need to find another base in the area, with the ability to hit satellites in the Middle East and Africa, or place U.S. personnel much closer to the areas they are targeting. “Instead of being able to be [inside the U.S.] with their operations, they would have to do more line-of-sight stuff, more direct deployments, more people going over there rather than [operating] in the states,” Bryant, who has become an outspoken critic of the drone program, told The Intercept. The U.S.

is “doing shady stuff behind the scenes like using satellite and information technologies that, if able to continue being used, are going to just continue to perpetuate the drone war,” he charged. “Ramstein is the focal point for drone communications,” says Dan Gettinger, co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College. “If the communications infrastructure didn’t exist, the drone would be just a remote control plane, a toy basically.” It is “more important to the drone operations than the weapons a drone carries.” The top-secret slides show how embedded Ramstein has become in the drone war. They describe in detail the system by which a geolocating device affixed to the drone feeds back to a satellite and down to the station at Ramstein. The GILGAMESH platform, which The Intercept first reported on in February of 2014, utilizes a device placed on the bottom of the drone. It operates as a fake cell phone tower, forcing individual mobile phones of targeted individuals to connect to it so that their location can be pinpointed and used in “find, fix and finish” missions.

The slides show that GILGAMESH operations ran out of several sites, including Djibouti, a base from which the U.S. has launched drone aircraft into Somalia and Yemen. The slides also describe how drones are equipped with a collection platform, “AIRHANDLER,” which relays data back to ground control stations via Ramstein. Construction on the Satellite Relay Facility at Ramstein. (Image: Josh Begley) RAMSTEIN IS NOT the only crucial U.S. military installation in Germany. The U.S. has a separate key facility an hour away, in Wiesbaden, Germany, called the European Technical Center (ETC). According to a previously reported classified document provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the ETC “is NSA’s primary communications hub in that part of the world, providing communications connectivity, SIGINT collection, and data-flow services to NSAers, warfighters and foreign partners in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.” In the top-secret drone architecture slide deck obtained by The Intercept, the ETC is shown as having satellite links to Bagram air base in Afghanistan as well as a fiber optic connection to the NSA’s counterterrorism facilities in Georgia, where many GILGAMESH operators supporting drone operations are based.

As the U.S. expands the global reach of its drones, Ramstein is poised to play a crucial role in new war frontiers. Last June, the Air Force awarded a contract to a major satellite provider that boasts that it “leverages our global satellite fleet to provide communications capability” for drones. The contract will support the operations of the Germany-based U.S. Africa Command. “Work will be performed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany and the western portion of Africa,” the contract announcement states. In 2011, the Air Force requested $15 million to build a center similar to the Ramstein satellite facility at a U.S. military base in Sigonella, Italy. As of November 2014, according to a U.S. military contracting document, the project was still in a pre-solicitation stage and construction had not been completed. The Air Force’s request for funding of the station underlined the centrality of Ramstein to all current drone operations. It asserted that the proposed Italy site would “act as a back-up system to the Ramstein site to avoid single point of failure.” ——— Additional reporting by Ryan Devereaux, Laura Poitras, and Josh Begley.

Margot Williams, Sheelagh McNeill, Alleen Brown, Andrea Jones, Sharon Weinberger, and Henrik Moltke contributed to this story. Illustration: Connie Yu United States Removes Nuclear Weapons From German Base, Documents Indicate | (FEV) Program Management , March 29, 2005. A Brief History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe The current number of approximately 350 nuclear weapons is only a fraction of the force level the United States deployed in Europe during the Cold War. That level reached a peak of 7,300 weapons in 1971. The number dropped to 4,000 by the end of the Cold War in 1990, plunged to 700 in 1992, and leveled off at approximately 480 weapons (all bombs) in 1994. This ended the dramatic period of nuclear disarmament initiatives, which has since been replaced by a period of relative stability with slow and gradual reductions happening mainly due to base closures rather than arms control initiatives.

One of the last acts of the Clinton administration in late 2000 was to authorize deployment of 480 nuclear bombs at nine bases in seven European NATO countries. Twenty of the bombs were withdrawn in 2001 after Greece pulled out of the NATO nuclear strike mission, and another 20 were withdrawn in 2003 when Germany closed Memmingen Air Base. The Bush administration updated the deployment authorization for Europe in May 2004 to reflect these changes, and it is possible that the authorization may have cleared the withdrawal from Ramstein Air Base. But as of late March 2005, Ramstein was still on the updated list of installations receiving nuclear surety staff assistance visits. The report U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe published by the Natural Resources Defense Council in February 2005 estimated 440-480 nuclear bombs deployed in Europe. US Nuclear Weapons in Europe, 1954-2007 The U.S. deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe peaked in 1971 at 7,300 weapons, was reduced significantly a decade and a half ago, but has remained comparatively stable since then.

Then in May 2005, the German magazine Der Spiegel cited unnamed German defense officials saying that the U.S. had quietly removed nuclear weapons from Ramstein Air Base during major construction work at the base. The assumption was that the move was temporary, but the German officials hoped they would never return. Their wish seems to have come through with Ramstein’s removal from the updated Air Force instruction published in January 2007. Both the U.S. government and NATO have always refused to disclose the number of weapons deployed in Europe but occasionally have provided the approximate range of the force level or the percentage of reduction since the Cold War. In an interview with Italian RAINEWS in April 2007, NATO Vice Secretary General Guy Roberts also refused to disclose the number weapons, but explained: “We do say that we’re down to a few hundred nuclear weapons.” Seen in Cold War context, 350 bombs may not seem like a lot, but for the post-Cold War era it is a significant force. It is roughly equivalent is size to the entire French nuclear arsenal, larger than the Chinese nuclear arsenal, and it is larger that the nuclear arsenals of all the three non-NPT countries Israel, India and Pakistan combined.

Recent Reaffirmation of Nuclear Mission Despite the apparent reduction, NATO’s Nuclear Planning Group (NPG) as recently as June 15, 2007, reaffirmed the importance of deploying U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe. NPG stated that the purpose of the weapons is to “preserve peace and prevent coercion and any kind of war,” and that NATO places “great value” on the U.S. deployment in Europe. The NPG did not identify any particular enemy that the weapons are intended to protect against, but instead said they “provide an essential political and military link between the European and North American members of the Alliance.” Büchel Air Base The only nuclear weapons storage site in Germany now appears to be Büchel Air Base, where theft – not enemy attack – is the main threat, as practiced by these security forces in February 2007. Germany’s Nuclear Decline The apparent withdrawal from Ramstein Air Base also raises questions about the continued nuclear strike mission of the German Tornado squadron at Nörvenich Air Base. The base previously stored nuclear weapons, but they were moved to Ramstein in 1995 with the intent that they could quickly be returned to Nörvenich if necessary.

A withdrawal from Ramstein would indicate that the 31st Wing at Nörvenich probably no longer has a nuclear strike mission, and that Germany’s contribution to NATO nuclear mission now is reduced to Büchel Air Base. A reduction to a single German nuclear base with “only” 20 nuclear bombs is a dramatic change from the late-1980s, when more than 2,570 nuclear weapons were deployed at dozens of locations across the country. The latest withdrawal follows a political seachange in German voters’ views on nuclear weapons in the country. A poll published by Der Spiegel in 2005 revealed an overwhelming support across the political spectrum for a complete withdrawal of nuclear weapons from Germany. The German government said in May 2005 that it would raise the issue of continued deployment within NATO, but officials later told Der Spiegel that the government had changed its mind. Yet the withdrawal from Ramstein indicates that the government has been more proactive than thought or that the Bush administration “got the message” and decided not to return the weapons. The withdrawal reduces Germany from the status of a major nuclear host nation to one on par with Belgium and the Netherlands, both of which also only have one nuclear base.

The German government can now safely decide to follow Greece, which in 2001 unilaterally left NATO’s nuclear club. This in turn would open the possibility that Belgium (and likely also the Netherlands) will follow suit, essentially throwing NATO’s long-held principle of nuclear burdensharing into disarray. A New Southern Focus For now, the withdrawal from Ramstein Air Base shifts the geographic focus of NATO’s nuclear posture to the south. Before the withdrawal, a clear majority of NATO’s nuclear weapons were deployed in Northern and Central Europe. After the withdrawal, however, more than half (51%) of the weapons are deployed in Southern Europe along the Eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea in Italy and Turkey. The geographic shift has implications for international security issues that NATO countries are actively involved in, such as the attempts to create a Mediterranean Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, and the efforts to persuade countries like Iran not to develop nuclear weapons. The new southern focus of NATO’s nuclear posture will make it harder to persuade other countries in the region to show constraint. Thousands protest against drones at U.S. Air Force base in Germany | Reuters Sun Jun 12, 2016 | 2:05 AM EDT Thousands protest against drones at U.S.

Air Force base in Germany BERLIN Several thousand demonstrators formed a human chain along the perimeter of a U.S. Air Force Base in southwest Germany on Saturday in protest against drone operations by the United States. The demonstration was organized by the alliance "Stop Ramstein - No Drone War", which says the Ramstein base transmits information between operators in the United States and unmanned drone aircraft in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Syria. Police estimated 3-4,000 people had formed the chain close to the base, which serves as the headquarters for the U.S. Air Forces in Europe. Organizers spoke of 5-7,000 people. No comment was available on Saturday from officials at Ramstein. The use of drones is highly controversial in Germany, where an aversion to military conflict has prevailed since World War Two. Organizers say allowing data for drone deployments to be routed through Ramstein goes against the German constitution and want the base's satellite relay station to be closed. Nearly 15 years after a drone first fired missiles in combat, the U.S. military program has expanded to become an everyday part of the war machine for carrying out surveillance and launching strikes.

President Barack Obama last month approved a drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan that killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour. U.S. officials said he had been overseeing plans for new attacks on U.S. targets in Kabul. Critics say drones often miss their intended targets, can only partly relay what is happening on the ground and encourage warfare with impunity, waged by people at computer screens far from danger. (Reporting by Reuters TV and Caroline Copley; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) ADVERTISEMENT

Question: The US Ramstein Air Base is in which European country?
Answer: Germany