The facility's origins begin in 1936 as a
Luftwaffe airfield, its primary mission being the home of light bomber (
Dornier Do 17) and dive bomber (
Junkers Ju 87) units until 1942. About 1940, the Luftwaffe began assigning anti-aircraft (FlaK) units to the area, in order to provide an air defense for the Schweinfurter Kugellagerwerke and other
ball bearing factories in Schweinfurt, as the city produced most of these critical components. Air Force Occupation units began moving into the airfield on 16 June 1945, the facility being renamed
Army Air Force Station Schweinfurt. The airfield became an occupation garrison for Air Force units and also became "Schweinfurt Air Depot", being used by
Air Technical Service Command. It was redesignated as
Schweinfurt Air Base on 1 August 1947, in anticipation of the Air Force becoming a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. On 5 October 1947, control of the airfield was turned over to the
United States Army as the Air Force consolidated its forces around the
Munich area. Shortly before closure, the U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt was home for roughly 11,000 people, including about 4,000 Soldiers, family members, Department of Defense civilian employees and their dependents, with the heliport being assigned to the Conn Barracks facilities. The installation was closed on September 19, 2014, following a round of base closures in Europe. ==See also==