Origins Construction on the Vázquez Sagastizábal Military Aerodrome, as Morón Air Base was initially known, began in 1940. The following year it began to function as a military airfield and was utilised to train fighter pilots for the
Spanish Army Air Force. In 1953, the Spanish and American governments finalized agreements to establish a number of Spanish-American air bases, including Morón Air Base. Morón was one of three major
United States Air Force (USAF)
Cold War airbases in Spain, the others being
Zaragoza Air Base near
Zaragoza and
Torrejón Air Base near
Madrid. Construction efforts began in 1953 under the direction of the
United States Navy, taking over 3 years to complete. On May 13, 1958, the first flight of
Boeing B-47 Stratojets were assigned to Morón Air Base to conduct
Reflex operations and then
Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters arrived to conduct strip alert tanker missions, and six weeks later the first rotational fighter squadron, the
1st Fighter-Day Squadron, flying
North American F-100 Super Sabres and commanded by Lt. Col.
Chuck Yeager, arrived from
George Air Force Base, CA, for temporary duty to conduct air defence alert. Morón continued to operate primarily as a Reflex base until 1962, when the first
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft arrived. In 1966, the base was transferred from
Strategic Air Command (SAC) to
United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE). The mission changed to communications support,
temporary duty (TDY) "fair weather" flying operations for
McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom IIs from
RAF Alconbury, and
McDonnell RF-101 Voodoo from
RAF Upper Heyford,
United Kingdom and the support of air rescue operations provided by the
67th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron.
Drawdown In 1971, Morón Air Base was designated to a "modified caretaker status", and
Torrejón Air Base was designated as the Primary Support Base (PSB) for the
Spanish Air Force. A small
Spanish Air Force contingent of
F-5 Freedom Fighters used the air base during the 1980s. Most of its buildings were empty and on-base services were severely limited. In November 1983, during the joint Spanish-American military exercise CRISEX 83,
U.S. Air Force B-52 strategic bombers were allowed to enter Spanish
air space and use Morón Air Base for the first time since being banned after the
1966 Palomares B-52 crash on January 17, 1966, near
Palomares. In 1984, Morón became a
NASA Space Shuttle Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) site. Special navigation and landing aids were installed, and Spanish personnel were trained to recover the
Space Shuttle orbiter after an emergency landing—one that never came. In addition during the 1980 and 1990s, U.S. Air Force airmen deployed to Morón during Shuttle launching periods to help provide onsite weather reporting as well as crash/rescue capability.
Post Cold War In 1990,
Strategic Air Command deployed 22 KC-135 and
McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender tankers to provide aerial refueling for
Operation Desert Shield and changed Morón Air Base's U.S. function from refueling to bomber operations. The
801st Bomb Wing (Provisional) at Morón Air Base consisted of 24
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, 3 KC-135s and over 2,800 personnel. This was the largest deployed bomber wing during the war. In 1991, the basing plan for Spain called for retaining Morón AB, along with
Torrejón Air Base, and
Naval Station Rota, but on a drastically reduced scale. In 1995, the
496th Air Base Squadron (496th ABS) was activated to replace the 712th Air Base Flight, and USAFE redesignated Morón as a limited-use base, defined as austerely staffed with no permanently assigned operational tactical forces, although it was used as a staging base to support deployments. Moron was used heavily during the
Gulf War by B-52s and tankers, and also during
Operation Restore Hope and
Operation Allied Force. From 1995 to 1997, Morón was a popular staging area to host
Coronet East movements to and from
Turkey and
Southwest Asia with over 95 fighter and tanker missions. In 1996, the 496th was placed under the
31st Support Group of
Aviano Air Base,
Italy. In 1999, Morón became the home of the
92nd Air Expeditionary Wing – tasked with providing fuel to
Operation Allied Force of the
Kosovo War. In addition to serving as the HQ 92 AEW (serving units in France, Crete, Sicily and Spain), Morón hosted 37 tankers (KC-135 and KC-10) and 800 personnel. The 92 AEW became the largest Tanker Wing since the
Vietnam War and held the distinction of being the largest tanker base during the
Kosovo war. s at Morón AB during Operation Enduring Freedom|left In 2001, the base provided record numbers of airlift and fighter rotations for
Operation Enduring Freedom in
Afghanistan. In 2003, these operations increased as Morón became key for airlift and fighter deployments in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2004, the 496th ABS started reporting to the
712th Air Base Group and was realigned under the
38th Combat Support Wing of
Ramstein Air Base,
Germany later that year. In 2007, the 712th ABG inactivated and the 496th ABS was realigned again under the
86th Operations Group of Ramstein Air Base. In April 2019 the 496th ABS was realigned again under the 65th Air Base Group creating the Atlantic Air Bridge. In 2011, the base once again proved its strategic importance as it served as the main tanker base for tanker aircraft supporting
Operation Unified Protector in operations over
Libya. The
313th Air Expeditionary Wing ("Calico Wing") and
406th Air Expeditionary Wing were activated to manage these operations. In 2013, Marine Corps temporarily based 550 Marines as part of a
rapid reaction force in Morón, Spain in support of U.S. Africa Command. This unit was outfitted with
Bell Boeing MV-22B Ospreys and
Lockheed Martin KC-130J aerial refueling / cargo aircraft. An advance element from this unit moved to
Naval Air Station Sigonella in May. Morón's massive flight line, in-ground aircraft refueling system, long runway and prime location on the
Iberian Peninsula, close to the
Mediterranean and the
Middle East, means the base is an important link in any operation moving east from the
United States.
KC-130 refueling
AV-8 Harrier of the
Spanish Navy near Morón Air BaseIn May 2015 the Spanish government approved an agreement granting the U.S. military a permanent presence on the base. Under the agreement, up to 3,000 American troops and civilians of the
Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Crisis Response - Africa can be stationed there, while the number of aircraft can be increased to 40, up from the previous limit of 14. At present the base hosts: • Wing (Ala) 11 of the Spanish Air and Space Force, which is equipped with
Eurofighter Typhoon; • El 2.º Escuadrón de Apoyo al Despliegue Aéreo (SEADA); • Permanent Detachment of
Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera, which operate Ala 37; • El 2.º Emergency Intervention Battalion of the
Unidad Militar de Emergencias (UME- BIEM II); •
496th Air Base Squadron,
USAF A detachment of the
18th Space Surveillance Squadron (USAF) was also previously located at the base. ==Local Base Operations==