Air Force marks 60 years in Germany’s Rhineland-Pfalz
On March 7, 1936 German military forces entered the Rhineland. This violated the Locarno Treaties and was the first time since the end of World War I that German troops had been in this region. Under the terms of Versailles, the Rhineland had been made into a demilitarized zone. Germany had political control of this area. In 1946, the Rhineland was divided into the newly-founded states of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
By Joshua L. DeMotts
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 2, 2012
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — U.S. Air Forces in Europe celebrated 60 years of the U.S. Air Force in Rhineland-Pfalz on Friday at Ramstein Air Base.
A ceremony was held in a massive double bay hangar on the flight line of the air base with a formation of several squadrons and groups representing the 86th Airlift Wing in service dress uniforms.
German residents from the area, civic and military leaders also attended the celebration.
Among those speaking were Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, USAFE commander; Kurt Beck, minister president of Rhineland-Pfalz; Brig. Gen. Charles K. Hyde, commander of the 86th Airlift Wing and U.S. Ambassador Philip D. Murphy.
“There is hardly a German citizen who does not have an American neighbor, tenant or co-worker,” Hyde said. “Personal relationships between Germans and Americans span decades and are where the friendships we experience today have their roots.”
“Citizens of Rhineland-Pfalz, thank you for hosting the U.S. Air Force. Our airmen and the thousands of families which call you friends and neighbors and your villages home, thank you.”
Dilemma X 
March 7, 2012
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