Mildenhall closure

[BOLLO]

Remember that the latest round of base closures still does not bring the MOD to their £1b SDSR15 figure. Bet there will be at least another announcement before too long; so time will tell.

I don't think Mildenhall closing as anything to do with the MOD SDR15 .

[markranger]

Been pretty amazing seeing how many tankers have been launched from Mildenhall for these Globle Power missions.
How do you think things like this will work post Mildenhall closure.?

[Sentry30]

Been pretty amazing seeing how many tankers have been launched from Mildenhall for these Globle Power missions.
How do you think things like this will work post Mildenhall closure.?

I'm pretty sure the USAF will plan it's global flights, including AAR, regardless on where the needed tankers are based..

D

[jediwarrior]

when i was last at mildenhall base commander came to talked to us and i asked him about closure and he said officially 5yrs. But he cant see it as
1. there is no hangars at Ramstien for the KC135s that need servicing or repairs.
2. The refueling of the tankers would need trucks to do it and teh facilities at the hall have better refilling process
3. The CV22s ( osprays ) main duties are night low flying and Germany dont like night flying never mind low level so they would need to fly to UK on a night of out of German airspace to do there training.

that was main gist of things we was told. Also th UK is a vital stop for any transitin aircraft going to middle east visa versa plus with the ISIS thing mildenhall is the best location for the US militry needs as in training areas the UK has the place its located.

[Lossie]

In the scheme of things the UK isn't that big a deal for transit to the Middle East as the most direct route is via the Med from the US thus why almost all US fighters stop off at Lajes or Rota or Moron or Sigonella. Rota was a C-5 hub for example (not sure if still is) and the aforementioned bases get lots of transport traffic transitting to the Middle East. A huge amount of AMC traffic oveflies the UK into Germany for Ramstein and Spangdahlem. And if things did want to stop in this part of the world there will be Lakenheath and a large amount of US mil traffic now uses Prestwick, Shannon and Belfast so they could still use those as well. I hope Mildenhall stays open but it wouldn't be a problem for transitting US mil traffic if it did. As for the 352nd SOW going to Germany with low level their main mission that does seem odd.

[page_verify]

The points jediwarrior mentions are all just operational niggles that people will either learn to live or find solutions to. A once in a generation infrastructure consolidation review isn't going to worry about them.

[JG71]

2. The refueling of the tankers would need trucks to do it and teh facilities at the hall have better refilling process
3. The CV22s ( osprays ) main duties are night low flying and Germany dont like night flying never mind low level so they would need to fly to UK on a night of out of German airspace to do there training.

Concerning point 2. Ramstein got a pipeline system under the Ramps. So no trucks will be needed for refueling the KC-135. Most Quid Missions are flown above central, east and Southern Europe. Ramstein offers best accessibility for AAR Mission around Europe.

Concerning point 3. I have posted that few months ago on the other Mildenhall closure topic.

The infrastructure at Mildenhall is totally outdated. If they would stay at Mildenhall they have to spend as much money as they have to spend at Spangdahlem. The training opportunities in the UK are not that good as you think. Nowadays most of the Missions are flown without special forces troops. Only the Aircrews of 352 SOW are on board. The special forces troops are currently based at "Panzer Kaserne" Böblingen, Germany. In the next years those units will move to Baumholder. At Baumholder and Grafenwöhr you can find some excellent military training areas where both parts of a successful special forces team (Air and Ground Troops) can train together under real wartime scenarios. Also training with allied and partner forces is better accessible from Germany. As Example. If they want to train with the German KSK Kommando Spezialkräfte at Calw, they will need 20 minutes to reach their training area from Spangdahlem. Nowadays they need nearly 2 hours. Germany offers pretty good low flying areas as well, the Mosel Valley. The Multinational Aircrew Electronic Warfare Tactics Facility POLYGONE will be also interesting for the 352nd SOW Aircrews.

[Usernamegoeshere]

well thats all folks it is closing for sure see http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/ca ... y-12142007

really bad news

if any one has past mildenhall air fete videos be great to see them

Dave

[C24]

Well, 2023 is 7 years away; if Donald Duck wins, the Russians will try to close it before Christmas 2016.

Just keep turning up to watch the aeroplanes

[Nighthawke]

Let's just separate the two issues here. As far as we know, the USAF will leave Mildenhall. The latest news relates to the fact that the UK Ministry of Defence have decided that when that does happen, they will not have a use for it.

[Pune]

Things could change now!!!

[quid21]

Things could change now!!!

Since Trump likes Putin, it probably doesn't bode well for Mildenhall!!

[starfighter]

The way this crazy world is going at the moment, maybe the Russians would like to use it

Steve.

[Lifesgood]

some interesting news
http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/raf-mildenha ... -1-4979025

here's hoping!

[Bolar492]

http://www.forces.net/news/raf-mildenha ... considered

[Snoop 95]

This has been covered in the Forum 'Mildenhall to Close...' section, but here is the Stars & Stripes article: https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/euc ... PZaNbMkupr
You will see that it does mention that any change to the previous announcement could mean re-negotiating with the government of the country concerned. Trump likes the UK but seems cool to Germany, so he may be behind this.