Air Transport Squadron 63

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Lufttransportgeschwader 63
- LTG 63 -
III

COA LTG 63.svg

Internal association badge (coat of arms)
Lineup August 24, 1957
Country Flag of Germany.svg Germany
Armed forces armed forces
Armed forces Bundeswehr Logo Luftwaffe with lettering.svg air force
Strength approx. 1400 soldiers
Insinuation Air Force Command
Location Hugo Junkers Barracks Alt Duvenstedt
Hohn Air Base
Awards Flag of Schleswig-Holstein.svg Flag ribbon
Schleswig-Holstein (1981), flag ribbon Germany (1997)
Flag of Germany.svg
guide
Commodore Colonel Markus Kleinbauer
Aircraft
Transport aircraft /
helicopter 		Transall C-160

The Lufttransportgeschwader 63 (LTG 63) is a squadron of the German Air Force , which is stationed at the Hohn Air Base ( ICAO code : ETNH). With the dissolution of the Luftwaffe operations units , the LTG 63 has been subordinate to the air force command in Cologne-Wahn since July 1, 2015 , with the European Air Transport Command (EATC) being responsible for operations. Since the beginning of 2018, the LTG 63 has been the last Transall unit of the Air Force with 24 C-160Ds (as of mid-2018).

assignment

Ensuring air transport

  • for the air force, army and navy of the Bundeswehr and the other partners within the EATC
  • of the central military area
  • if necessary for the political-parliamentary area, especially in crisis areas

by

  • Laying air transport
  • Logistic air transport
  • Airborne operations
  • Transport of the wounded, injured and sick

Additional security of air transport within the framework of

  • Air transport special operations, this includes evacuations and support of special operations units
  • Civil protection
  • Support of the civil air rescue system
  • Aviation training and further education
  • Tactical training

In the last few years of its existence, the LTG 63 was gradually released from parts of its tasks as soon as these could be carried out by the LTG 62 with its Atlas vans. After the task of air transport in crisis areas, including the political-parliamentary area, was given up in 2020, the last remaining task was to carry out special operations.

history

Hohn Air Base (DE-SH)
Hohn Air Base
Hohn Air Base
Location of Hohn
Air Base Coordinates: N54 ° 18 ′ 43 ″ E009 ° 32 ′ 17 ″

The LTG 63 was initially set up on September 15, 1961 at the Celle Army Airfield and equipped with the Nord 2501 Noratlas . In September 1967 the location was relocated to Hohn near Rendsburg. The Hugo Junkers barracks belonging to LTG 63 is located about three kilometers away in Krummenort . In the years 1968 to 1970 the Noratlas were replaced by the Transall C-160 .

On February 9, 1975, the squadron was shaken by an accident when a C-160D with the registration number 50 + 63 flew into a mountain while approaching Chania airport due to a navigation error and heavy snowfall. None of the 42 occupants, besides the crew, members of the anti-aircraft missile battalion 39 on the way to an exercise in Crete , survived the accident.

In the spring of 1993 parts of the disbanded Helicopter Transport Squadron 64 (HTG 64) from Ahlhorn were incorporated into LTG 63. The LTG 63 had an additional 19 Bell UH-1 D available. The helicopters of the 2nd season regularly moved to Borkum for training over water . In the course of the establishment of the helicopter squadron 64 (HSG 64) at the Holzdorf air base , the 2nd squadron of the LTG 63 was disbanded in December 2010 and their helicopters were handed over to the new association.

In the spring of 2013, Transall's squadron relocated to West Africa to support the French Opération Serval , the combat mission against Islamists in northern Mali .

On April 1, 2014, Lufttransportgeschwader 63 (LTG 63) was declared a training association. The course-related practical and theoretical Transall training is now taking place at the Hohn Air Base. Training on the Transall C-160 flight simulator will continue at Wunstorf Air Base , but under the responsibility of LTG 63.

As of 2011, the Hohn military airfield and the associated Hugo Junkers barracks in Krummenort (Alt Duvenstedt) , a few kilometers away, should be completely abandoned in 2019 with the cessation of flight operations with the Transall as part of the realignment of the Bundeswehr . In December 2015, it was decided to continue operations at the air base until the end of 2021, as the Airbus A400M is not expected to be ready for tactical air transport until this year . For this purpose, Transall's flight operations were bundled at the Hohn site from the end of 2017 after Lufttransportgeschwader 61 was dissolved in Penzing

In the summer of 2019, the squadron celebrated its 400,000 flight hours with the C-160D, this year the squadron operated 15 Transalls. The number of aircraft will be reduced to ten to eleven in 2020. This goes hand in hand with a reduction in flight hours and staff. In its final year of existence in 2021, a further downsizing of the association is planned.

structure

  • Rod LTG63
    • Flying group (FlgGrp LTG 63)
    • Technical group (TGrp LTG 63)

Commodore

No. Surname Beginning of the appointment End of appointment
1 Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Batz December 15, 1961 January 31, 1964
2 Colonel Horst Rudat February 1, 1964 March 31, 1971
3 Colonel Dr. Heinz-Ulrich Beuther April 1, 1971 March 31, 1979
4th Colonel Hubert Marquitan April 1, 1979 September 30, 1980
5 Colonel Rudi Gutzeit October 1, 1980 September 30, 1986
6th Colonel Jürgen Reiss October 1, 1986 March 31, 1991
7th Colonel Joachim Mörsdorf April 1, 1991 September 30, 1993
8th Colonel Hans-Otto Elger October 1, 1993 March 31, 1995
9 Colonel Hans-Jürgen Ochs April 1, 1995 September 30, 1998
10 Colonel Hans-Jürgen Miunske October 1, 1998 March 27, 2003
11 Colonel Helmut Fritzsche March 28, 2003 March 27, 2006
12 Colonel Manfred Merten March 27, 2006 February 25, 2010
13 Colonel Stefan W. Neumann February 25, 2010 June 18, 2012
14th Colonel Hartmut Zitzewitz June 19, 2012 October 22, 2018
15th Colonel Markus Kleinbauer October 22, 2018

Awards

Military history collection in LTG 63

With over 400 exhibits, Lufttransportgeschwader 63 presents its history in the lecture hall building of the Hugo Junkers barracks. It shows the development of the air force squadron since it was founded in 1961, its aircraft and worldwide relief and support flights in disaster, crisis and war zones. Part of the exhibition deals with the history of the Hohn airfield and German unification since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The collection can be viewed by appointment.

Illustrations

  • Transall C160 D (LTG 63)

  • Transall C-160 of the LTG 63 at the ILA 2016.

  • Bell UH-1D of LTG 63 during a rescue operation in Hamburg

  • Bell UH-1 on a mission

Trivia

Since filming for the television series Die Rettungsflieger began , the squadron provided a Bell UH-1 D SAR helicopter and the appropriate personnel. The association badges can also be seen there on the helicopter as well as the uniforms of the actors.

See also

Web links

Commons : Lufttransportgeschwader 63  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Last change of guard at the Transall Squadron - Schleswig Holsteinische Landeszeitung , accessed on October 24, 2018
  2. ↑ Deadly Loop . In: Der Spiegel . No. 8 , 1975 ( online ). Quote: "Evidence suggests that the 42 dead in Crete were the victims of a navigation error by the crew."
  3. ^ The list of the helicopter squadron 64th Homepage of the Air Force, September 30, 2010, archived from the original on October 2, 2010 ; Retrieved October 1, 2010 .
  4. ↑ Air Force begins relocation to Africa. Homepage of the German Air Force, January 15, 2013, accessed on March 15, 2013 .
  5. ↑ D. Jennert: Mecca of the Transall pilots. Schleswig-Holsteinische Landeszeitung, April 3, 2014, accessed on April 19, 2014 .
  6. ^ Stationing of the Bundeswehr in October 2011
  7. ↑ LTG 63 will fly with Transall until 2021. Homepage of the German Air Force, December 14, 2015, accessed on December 30, 2015 .
  8. ^ Military history collection in LTG 63 on the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district page