NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen

NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, located near Geilenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, serves as the main operating base for the NATO Boeing E-3 Sentry Component. The base spans 620 hectares and is situated near the village of Teveren, six kilometers west of Geilenkirchen, with part of its perimeter adjacent to the German-Dutch border.

Constructed by the British Royal Air Force (RAF) after World War II, the airfield operated as RAF Geilenkirchen from 1953, hosting various RAF fighter squadrons until 1968. In March 1968, it was transferred to the German Air Force, becoming home to the German Missile Wing 2, equipped with Pershing 1A missiles, supported by the 85th U.S. Army Field Artillery Detachment. Following NATO's decision to establish the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force program, a significant construction effort began in 1980 to adapt the base for the E-3A Component. The German Pershing Wing relocated by the end of 1981, and the U.S. detachment was deactivated in July 1991.

E-3A Component flying operations commenced in February 1982 with the delivery of the first E-3A aircraft. Germany formally handed over the base to NATO on March 31, 1982, and the component achieved full operational capability by the end of 1988. Initial construction included a new 3,050-meter concrete/asphalt runway, aprons, taxiways, a control tower, an information technology wing, and renovated hangars. The E-3A Component is NATO's first multinational operational flying unit, commanded alternately by Germany and the USA, and operates fourteen Boeing E-3A AWACS aircraft registered in Luxembourg. These aircraft have undergone multiple modernization programs, including the Mid-term Modernization Programme completed in December 2018, and are currently undergoing the Final Lifetime Extension program to ensure continued operational capability. The base supports over 2,500 military and civilian personnel.