Oakington Cadet visits US Air Base in Germany

In July 2017, I visited Ramstein Air Base in Germany with around 80 other RAF Air Cadets from Squadrons from all over the UK. Ramstein is a United States Air Force base is near the town of Ramstein-Miesenbach in Rhineland-Palatinate, Southwestern Germany. It is the headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe and also for NATO Allied Air Command.

We assembled at RAF Manston before embarking 0n a ferry to Calais. From Calais our journey led us through Luxembourg, where we spent a day and stayed overnight at the police academy, travelling on to Ramstein.

We visited Spangdahlem Air Base and saw the range of facilities used by the US Air Force, including the fire trucks at one of the fire stations on base.

One of the highlights of our stay was flying in a C-130 Hercules. We also visited the Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim. The Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim is a technology museum where exhibits include the original Concorde and a Tupolev TU-144.

We also went to Rüdesheim am Rhein where we went on the cable cars and saw the Niederwald Monument, a monument built in in the 1870s / 1880s to commemorate the unification of Germany. After that, we walked around Rüdesheim and did some sightseeing.

Back at Ramstein, we visited the bomb disposal unit, who showed us some of the equipment they use. Some of the cadets even got to try on a bomb disposal suit!

On the penultimate day, we visited Büchel Air Base, belonging to the Luftwaffe, where we saw the Tornados, completed an obstacle course, and rode in an APV!

Finally, they returned to Manston after a long but very enjoyable camp.

Cdt Thurston, 2524 (Oakington) Air Training Corps