76 years with NATO

April 4 marked 76 years of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The United States became pointedly vested in the security and future of Europe after the Berlin Blockade and the communist coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948. The actions of communist aggression prompted the U.S. to look at Europe differently. Talks between the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and others began for a potential larger diplomatic and military alliance. Secretary of State Dean Acheson signed the treaty on April 4, 1949 on behalf of the U.S., and the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty on July 21, 1949, (with a vote of 83-13). Finally, President Truman and Secretary Acheson signed the Instrument of Accession, making the United States a founding member of NATO.

In addition to the states mentioned above, the original NATO treaty was also signed by Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. U.S. President Harry S. Truman stated on Aug. 24, 1949: “By this treaty we are not only seeking to establish freedom from aggression and from the use of force in the North Atlantic community, but we are also actively striving to promote and preserve peace throughout the world.”

Since NATO’s inception, the 86th, in all its designations, has continuously worked alongside its Allies for over 76 years. Even before NATO, the U.S. Air Force and the 86th Fighter Wing collaborated and partnered with the United Kingdom, France, and Canada for the Berlin Airlift and Operation VITTLES. Just months after the establishment of NATO, the 86th Fighter Wing at Neubiberg Air Base, hosted members from the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force to be official observers of “Exercise Harvest,” a U.S. European Command Joint Maneuver, in September 1949. When the 86th received the theater’s first F-86 Sabres in the early 1950s, the wing’s pilots and maintenance personnel trained Allies and partners on the new jet fighters.

Throughout the twentieth century and well into the twenty-first century, the United States’ relationship with NATO, and the close ties the 86th started and maintained with its Allies and partners, remain the foundation of peace, deterrence, and kinship. The 86th Airlift Wing and Ramstein Air Base, cannot fulfill its mission to “Project Power and Create Communities” without our NATO Allies and partners. Present on Ramstein Air Base since 1974, NATO’s Allied Air Command enriches our operations and communities, openly shares their cultures (and goods), and provides unique opportunities for the wing unlike anywhere else in the world.

NATO continues to grow, its most recent addition in 2024 with Sweden. The Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) released a video reel to commemorate the anniversary, and their text reads: “One mission: Working together to keep people safe — in the air, on land, at sea, and in cyberspace. NATO Allies work side by side for security, peace, and freedom. 76 years of collective defense via 1000+ exercises and have protected over one billion people.”

Stronger Together.