Some say the Rasputin-like Rhein-Main Air Base may never close
by Tech. Sgt. Jason Tudor photos by Master Sgt. John E. Lasky, Airman Magazine (August 2002)
Every time someone even says the word "closure" around here, someone else giggles. Maybe it's denial. Maybe the date scratched on everyone's desk calendars is erased more than an answer on an enlisted promotion test. Or it could be that this place may simply never close. Maybe.
With cargo planes sitting on the runway, 1,100 people living in contingency dorms and facilities reopening to support Operation Enduring Freedom, Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, is gaining a second wind as it ramps down toward closure.
At this former hub of the Berlin airlift, where nearly 4.7 million pounds of goods left on flights every four minutes, the push to sustain troops for Enduring Freedom is the result of overcrowding.
When war support arched upward, the flight line at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, filled up. Shortly before Thanksgiving 2001, the first aircraft diverted from Ramstein into Rhein-Main. Operations have reached a feverish pace since, and the few hundred remaining people left from the closure team are trying their best to keep up.
"We have lots of facilities - but not lots of people," said Col. Christine Prewitt, 469th Air Base Group commander. "It's bizarre. We went from nothing to everything."
And it's no secret Prewitt doesn't have the bodies to sustain the work. The Air Force has brought her nearly 150 others from around the world to augment operations. Three hangars burgeon with active, Reserve, Guard and civilians aimed at getting aircraft "down range" to Afghanistan and beyond.
Senior Airman Darryl Nelson, who works on aircraft environmental electrical systems for Rhein-Main's 726th Air Mobility Squadron, expected to finish his assignment with little fanfare. He was wrong.
"We had more than 300 aircraft in February. We've always had things to do and stayed busy," he said, "but not like this."
Strange days indeed Situated on the southern grounds of Frankfurt International Airport, Rhein-Main's location and weather bring smiles to aviators across the bluesuit spectrum. However, the airport is growing at an exponential pace. The German government wanted Rhein-Main's facilities. The Air Force did an assessment and decided it didn't need Rhein-Main. Simple, right?
Not so much. It's been more than eight years since the base's announced closure. Lowry Air Force Base, Colo., on the other hand, closed a little less than three years following its announcement. While the men and women still stationed here took on a caretaker role, the numbers of missions and involvement of operations actually increased.
Airmen on the Main have seen lots of work lately, including:
- Operations Desert Storm/Shield: 3,300 jets per month, 19,000 tons of cargo and 62,000 passengers per month with 685 airmen working.
- Operation Allied Force: From March 25 to July 6, 1999, Rhein-Main generated 1,513 sorties, served 38,121 passengers and handled 6,624 tons of cargo.
- Operation Enduring Freedom: With 110 people in the aerial port, Rhein-Main is moving 600 jets, 7,000 tons of cargo and 20,000 passengers through each month. That's nearly one jet every hour of the day.
Chief Master Sgt. Bobby Gamsby supervises maintenance and operations on the Rhein-Main flight line. He oversees his folks' work as well as the work of the airmen deployed from bases in the States.
The 22-year veteran and former command chief at a Southwest Asian base said the job is No. 1 here and keeps the troops motivated.
"This is what they train for," he said. "The key is teamwork. We have to have everyone in synch. The deployed folks are very happy here, too. The alternative is living in tents."
But not everyone is keen on the frantic gait of operations. Staff Sgt. Christian Stamper provides aircraft services for Rhein-Main's airlift contingent. He cleans the aircraft, removes the waste from the septic tanks and helps load the jets again to go down range.
Stamper released a big sigh and made a slight grin when he thought about all he's done over the past few months.
"I don't think I'll miss this," he said. "It's a challenge. It's a double-edged sword, but I definitely feel like I'm contributing. It's clicked that I'm helping."
Senior Airman Tiffany Sisneros crawls around in fuel tanks, performing upkeep and making repairs for the airlift contingent. Rhein-Main's 2001 airman of the year understands the sacrifice she and others are making.
"It hurts a lot of families, but those are the things we have to sacrifice," she said.
Closed facilities have presented another challenge to Prewitt and her closure team. With sometimes three to four visiting airmen crammed into a contingency dorm room, she and services director William Wilson are racing to find ways to keep the troops entertained.
Formally known as Frankfurt-am-Main, the city is a 652,000-strong bustling zenith of international life that gobbles up about 97 square miles in the German state of Hesse. Some airmen will make the short drive into town to regale at many of the cosmopolitan stops, but many won't.
That's why Prewitt and Wilson spent money to upgrade the Rocket Sports Lounge. With a dance floor, bar, kitchen, video games, pool table and big-screen televisions, the Rocket resembles hundreds of other clubs around the Defense Department and is just a few hundred feet away from the dorms. Before Thanksgiving 2001, few people patronized it. Now it bulges with business, sometimes pulling $1,500 a night.
Throw money into a club less than three years away from closure? Wilson said it's necessary given the war on terrorism and the commander's need to care for workers.
"We're not afraid to spend the money to make this happen," he said.
That closure business Retired Master Sgt. Paul Molnar may know the ins and outs of Rhein-Main better than anyone. The 21-year veteran spent time crawling around building heating and air conditioning systems as a technician and operations chief. Fittingly, he's now Rhein-Main's closure officer, and he may wear the widest cautionary smile when discussing the topic.
Molnar said Rhein-Main is obligated to maintain a mission-ready posture until its date of closure.
"We aren't in a normal closure situation," he said. "But what goes on doesn't affect our operations. We're pushing on, and we have a plan."
Complex and partially executed, the Rhein-Main closure plan involves returning the facilities to the private contractor that owns the international airport. Some facilities, like the fitness center and bowling center, were turned over early on. Other areas, like hangars and flight line space, are being returned piece by piece.
The airport's encroachment has squeezed Air Force flight line life into a smaller than average area. Operations run out of a handful of buildings and two hangars. But there are still questions as to whether Rhein-Main will cease to exist after 2005.
"The closure timeline is a sensitive issue with Hessen [state] officials," Molnar said. "The airport is an integral part of its economy. That's why the state wants to expand it."
In fact, some 18.6 million passengers used Germany's largest airport in the first five months of this year. It moved 594,600 metric tons of airfreight and had 184,300 flights. In 2001, it moved 1,494,100 metric tons of airfreight and had 456,452 flights, and airport officials are projecting 656,000 flights by 2015 while moving 2.75 million metric tons of cargo.
"Frankfurt wants to be the center of the European economic community," Molnar added. "The airport is integral to that."
The closure date, Prewitt said, is contingent upon a number of things. To accommodate the airlift, construction to build ramp space and facilities is underway at Ramstein and Spangdahlem Air Bases. But until those bases are done, she said, the date is tentative.
"The goal," Molnar emphasized, "is 2005. The question is, 'When?' "
Second guessing The line of people who lobby for keeping the base open because of good weather, location and historical value is longer than an opening day for a "Star Wars" film. There are plenty of people who've second-guessed Rhein-Main's closure.
Molnar is one of them. "The weather is great, and there's so much diversity here," he said. "Also, we're next to an international airport. When the high rollers come to town, it's easier to fly out of Frankfurt than have to drive 100 miles to get here."
Prewitt is another, though more impartial. "People really don't believe that Rhein-Main is going to close. It would be a great loss for the Air Force. It's a tremendous airfield," she said.
Airman 1st Class Brandon Blanks, who's assisting security forces personnel, believes Rhein-Main will fade into history.
"I don't think many people are going to miss it," he said. "There may be a couple of people, but I don't think it will hurt too many people's feelings."
Despite what many feel, the return of the base to the German government became official in December 1999. There's plenty of money involved, too. The Frankfurt Airport company is paying $127 million of the total $365 million cost for relocating the air base facilities, the largest portion. Hesse is paying $37 million, Frankfurt $45 million, the state of Rhineland-Palatinate $17 million and the German federal government $61 million. NATO is pitching in $78 million. A contract was also signed for handing over the Berlin Airlift Memorial to the Frankfurt airport.
In other words, based on the committed dollars, closure is coming.
Meanwhile, people are keeping their erasers at the ready just in case anything changes, and Prewitt is proud of the way everyone is focused supporting whatever the Air Force asks.
"It's a unique challenge. People here have a great mission, and it's important for them to know that," she said. "They feel like they are part of something special."
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