Fliegerhorst Wittmundhafen

During the eighties West Germany was packed with F-4 Phantoms. Nowadays Wittmundhafen (often referred to as "Wittmund") in Northern Germany is the last base where these mighty jets are being flown (apart from a couple of test aircraft at Manching). During May 2009 3Greens.nl had the opportunity to visit this base and saw the "Rhino's" in action.

Wittmund is home to Jagdgeschwader 71 (JG 71) "Richthofen". With 55 aircraft in its inventory, JG 71 has to fullfill some important tasks. One of these is the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) for Northern Germany: aircraft have to be airborne within fifteen minutes to intercept unidentified aircraft. Besides its QRA responsibilities, JG 71 also needs to be ready to deploy aircraft and personel within days as part of NATO's Reponse Force. Next to these tasks the wing conducts patrol flights over Germany and is responsible for training of young F-4 pilots just returning from flightschool in the USA. The most recent deployment involved four aircraft for air policing duties in the Baltic States during 2005.

The future looks bright for Wittmundhafen and JG 71. In a few years time the Eurofighter Typhoon will arrive and replace the good old "Fantoom" which has been serving the German Air Force for more than three decades. With ongoing investments (e.g. a new control tower will be build in 2010) and a new type of aircraft scheduled in the near future, the sky looks clear over Wittmundhafen. Although little is sure within politics.....

Special thanks goes to Major L. of JG71 and Oscar S. for their time, effort and patience to make this report possible.

© 2009 3Greens.nl