Air Transport Wing 63

Air Transport Wing 63
Lufttransportgeschwader 63 (LTG 63)
Active	24 August 1957 - 15 December 2021
Disbanded	15 December 2021
Country	Germany
Branch	German Air Force
Type	Wing
Role	Strategic and tactical transport
Part of	Air Force Combat Command Kommando Einsatzverbände der Luftwaffe
Garrison/HQ	Hohn Air Base
Decorations	Campaign streamer Schleswig-Holstein (1981) Campaign streamer Federal Republic of Germany (1997)
Aircraft flown
Transport	Transall C-160

Air Transport Wing 63 (German: Lufttransportgeschwader 63) was a wing of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe). The wing was created in 1957 and was last based at Hohn Air Base in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, operating the last German Transall C-160 fixed-wing aircraft.

In December 2021, the wing was disbanded with the phaseout of its Transall aircraft in favour of the Airbus A400M, which are all stationed in Wunstorf. A contingent of 60 will maintain Hohn Air Base as a reserve airfield for Tactical Wing 51 from Jagel.

Commanding officers

• Oberstleutnant Wilhelm Batz, 15 December 1961 – 31 January 1964
• Oberst Horst Rudat, 1 February 1964 – 31 March 1971
• Oberst Dr. Heinz-Ulrich Beuther, 1 April 1971 – 31 March 1979
• Oberst Hubert Marquitan, 1 April 1979 – 30 September 1980
• Oberst Rudi Gutzeit, 1 October 1980 – 30 September 1986
• Oberst Jürgen Reiss, 1 October 1986 – 31 March 1991
• Oberst Joachim Mörsdorf, 1 April 1991 – 30 September 1993
• Oberst Hans-Otto Elger, 1 October 1993 – 31 March 1995
• Oberst Hans-Jürgen Ochs, 1 April 1995 – 30 September 1998
• Oberst Hans-Jürgen Miunske, 1 October 1998 – 27 March 2003
• Oberst Helmut Fritzsche, 28 March 2003 – 27 March 2006
• Oberst Manfred Merten, 27 March 2006 – 25 February 2010
• Oberst Stefan W. Neumann, 25 February 2010 – 18 June 2012
• Oberst Hartmut Zitzewitz, 19 June 2012 – 22 October 2018
• Oberst Markus Kleinbauer, 22 October 2018 - 15 December 2021

Further reading

• Lemke, Bernd; Krüger, Dieter; Rebhan, Heinz; Schmidt, Wolfgang (2006). Die Luftwaffe 1950 bis 1970. Konzeption, Aufbau, Integration (in German). München: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. ISBN 3-486-57973-8.
• Ahrens, Hans-Werner (2019). Die Transportflieger der Luftwaffe 1956 bis 1971. Konzeption - Aufbau - Einsatz (in German). Norderstedt: Carola Hartmann Miles-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-9458-6185-1.