Torrejón Air Base

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Torrejón Air Base
Base Aérea de Torrejón
Near AMSL
Runways Direction Length and surface 04/22 3,658 metres (12,001 ft) Asphalt
Source: Spanish Aeronautical Information Publication[1]

Torrejón Air Base (IATA: TOJ, ICAO: LETO) (Base Aérea de Torrejón de Ardoz) is both a major Spanish Air and Space Force base and the co-located Madrid–Torrejón Airport, a secondary civilian airport for the city and metropolitan area of Madrid, east-northeast of the city center in central Spain.

History

Torrejón Air Base was originally the home of the Spanish National Institute Aeronautics, however following the Pact of Madrid of 26 September 1953, construction began at Torrejón on a new 13,400-foot (4,100 m) concrete runway to replace the existing 4,266-foot (1,300 m) grass airstrip and on a massive concrete apron and other necessary maintenance and shelter facilities to accommodate the largest United States Air Force (USAF) bomber aircraft in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) inventory, with the base intended to support SAC Reflex missions. This was the longest runway in Europe until the construction of the Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport in 1983, and is the ninth longest runway in Europe as of 1 June 2017.

USAF support activities began under the 7600th Air Base Group located in Madrid in July 1956, to support construction and base organizational functions. Torrejón Air Base opened officially on 1 June 1957 with SAC activating the 3970th Strategic Wing on 1 July 1957. The base hosting

.

In addition to the command and control mission, Torrejón Air Base hosted SAC reflex operations. Reflex operations consisted of rotating

target by placing its aircraft, weapons, and personnel on many more bases, with each bombardment wing having two additional installations to which it could disperse.

On 5 July 1958 the

. Its F-102 aircraft were transferred to other USAFE 86th AD FIS squadrons.

Tactical operations

With the phaseout of the B-47 from SAC in the mid-1960s, the need for SAC European bases diminished. The Sixteenth Air Force was turned over to USAFE on 15 April 1966 and the strategic focus changed to tactical. Prior to 1966, Torrejón AB hosted TDY squadrons of tactical aircraft rotating from Continental U.S. Tactical Air Command (TAC) bases which would perform 30-day rotations to Aviano Air Base Italy and Incirlik Air Base, Turkey.

With the USAFE takeover of the base, TAC transferred the

alerts.

The 401st TFW's initial operational squadrons at Torrejón were:

• 307th Tactical Fighter Squadron
  (1966–1971) (Tail Code: TJ)
• 353d Tactical Fighter Squadron
  (1966–1971) (Tail Code: TK)
• 613th Tactical Fighter Squadron (1966–1993) (Yellow/Black Tails, Tail Code: TL)

401st TFW squadrons flew the

.

Due to the demands of the

(353d TFS).

As well as the USAFE tactical aircraft, SAC retained a presence at Torrejón with the

that same day with the closure of Lincoln AFB.

The 98th SW had no permanently assigned aircraft assigned, however CONUS-based SAC wings deployed aircraft to provide air refueling sup-port to meet the operational, alert, and exercise commitments of SAC, TAC, USAFE, and NATO in an area including the eastern

.

Even though neither were assigned to the base, when a B-52 and a KC-135 crashed off the coast of Spain in the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash, Torrejón became the focal point for the search for the missing nuclear weapons.

Military Airlift Command (MAC) operated the 625th Military Airlift Support Squadron at Torrejón to function as a major terminal for MAC transatlantic flights.

In 1970 the 401st TFW upgraded to the

. In September 1973, an equipment change to the F-4C model took place, then in 1979 to the F-4D.

As a result of the withdrawal of USAF forces in South Vietnam, on 15 July 1971 the 307th and 353rd TFS were returned to their home bases, and the 612th and 614th TFSs were assigned to Torrejón. Also in 1972, individual squadron tail codes were eliminated and "TJ" became the tail code for all 401st TFW aircraft.

On 31 December 1976 the 98th Strategic Wing was inactivated with its air refueling mission being taken over by the 306th Strategic Wing, based at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany.

The 401st transitioned to the new

beginning with the first aircraft deliveries on 5 February 1983. The wing reached full F-16 operational capability on 1 January 1985. The F-16A/B models were upgraded to the Block 30 F-16C/D beginning in late 1987, with all aircraft replaced by September 1988.

Operational squadrons were:

• 612th Tactical Fighter Squadron (blue tail stripe)
• 613th Tactical Fighter Squadron (yellow tail stripe)
• 614th Tactical Fighter Squadron (red tail stripe)

USAF withdrawal

As the time approached in 1987 for the renegotiation of the existing base agreement, which had entered into force in 1983 for a five-year period, pressures mounted for a reduction of the United States military presence in Spain. Communist political groups and elements of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) had campaigned against the bases. Moreover, the base agreement had become a symbol^[2] of United States cooperation with Francoist Spain.^[2] It was important to many Spaniards to eliminate vestiges of this history by converting Spain's long-standing bilateral relations with the United States into a multilateral undertaking through NATO.^[3]

The outcome of the 1986 Spanish NATO membership referendum committed the Spanish government (then the Second González government) to negotiate the reduction of the United States military presence in Spain. Spain insisted that the F-16 aircraft be removed from Torrejón as a condition for renewal of the base agreement, and the Spanish government threatened to expel all United States forces in Spain if this demand were not accepted. The United States felt that even though Italy subsequently agreed to station the F-16 wing at Aviano Air Base, the cost of transfer would be high, and the unit would be in a more exposed position to Warsaw Pact forces.

In January 1988, Spain and the United States announced jointly that agreement had been reached in principle on a new base agreement with an initial term of eight years, essentially meeting the conditions demanded by Spain. The F-16s were to be removed from Torrejón within three years, by mid-1991. It was expected that this step would reduce the number of United States personnel in Spain by nearly one-half.

Implementation of this agreement was delayed by the 1990-91 crisis in

.

After the 1991 cease-fire in Iraq, plans proceeded to close Torrejón Air Base. On 28 June, the 613th TFS was inactivated and its aircraft sent to Air National Guard squadrons in the United States. The 612th TFS inactivated on 1 October and the 614th TFS on 1 January 1992.

In accordance with the 1988 agreement, the USAF portion of the base was turned over to the Spanish government on 21 May 1992, with the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing being transferred to Aviano Air Base, Italy without personnel or equipment.

Civilian use

In the mid-1990s Torrejón Air Base was opened to civilian traffic (mostly charter and executive traffic) and was given the name Madrid–Torrejón Airport. Prior to the completion of

Current military use

Since its creation, Torrejón Air Base was also the base of a Spanish Air Force fighter wing, an

electronic warfare

.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Torrejón.[6]

References

• Donald, David (2004) Century Jets: USAF Frontline Fighters of the Cold War. AIRtime
  ISBN 1-880588-68-4
• Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
• Fletcher, Harry R. (1989) Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.
  ISBN 0-912799-53-6
• Menard, David W. (1998) Before Centuries: USAFE Fighters, 1948–1959. Howell Press Inc.
  ISBN 1-57427-079-6
• Menard, David W. (1993) USAF Plus Fifteen: A Photo History, 1947–1962. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.
  ISBN 0-88740-483-9
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.
  ISBN 0-912799-12-9
  .
• Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications.
  ISBN 1-85780-197-0
  .

External links

• USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers—1908 to present
• The Lucky Devils in the Gulf War
• Unofficial Torrejon Air Base Website