Air Mobility Command yesterday stood up the 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing at Ramstein AB, Germany, to manage the command’s booming war-zone transit operation in Europe. The new wing will become the headquarters for the existing 721st Air Mobility Operations Group at Ramstein, and the new 521st AMOG at Rota AB, Spain, the command said in a release. “This new wing will provide an enhanced level of control for our en route structure in Europe, which includes critical locations for getting people, cargo and patients to and from current war zones,” said Col. Kimberly Corcoran, who has been appointed to lead the wing. The wing will comprise about 1,800 personnel, with about two-thirds of them residing in the 721st AMOG and its subordinate squadrons, and roughly 500 in the 521st AMOG. In June, AMC established a similar wing at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, for the Pacific theater.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
