History.

Blitzkrieg and Megatherion (1987–1988).

Therion originated as the band Blitzkrieg in Upplands Väsby, Sweden. In 1987, Christofer Johnsson, who had played bass for three months, teamed up with guitarist Peter Hansson, whom he had met in several musical groups, and drummer Oskar Forss, who was Johnsson's old schoolmate. The band's main influences were Metallica and Slayer, but its sound resembled Venom and Motörhead. The band had only two concerts. In March 1988, it split up after some disagreements with Forss.  In 1988, the band reformed with the moniker Megatherion, which was based on the album title "To Mega Therion" by the Swiss heavy metal band Celtic Frost. Johnsson has mentioned that "therion" is Greek for "beast" and likens it to Belphegor. Johnsson switched from bass to guitar and Peter Hansson played guitar. Johan Hansson became its bassist, and Mika Tovalainen its drummer. After the band shortened its name to "Therion", Erik Gustafsson of Dismember replaced Johan Hansson as the bassist, and Oskar Forss returned and replaced Tovalainen as the drummer.

Demos and record deals (1989–1993).

In 1989, Therion released two demos: "Paroxysmal Holocaust" and "Beyond the Darkest Veils of Inner Wickedness". In 1990, the band worked with House of Kicks, a local record store, to print and release the "Time Shall Tell" demo. The latest release enabled the band the sign a one-album record deal with Deaf Records.  Therion's first full-length album, "Of Darkness...", released in 1991, featured songs that Johnsson had composed in the 1980s. The band called it "both a debut album and the end of an era", and described it as progressive death metal, since it contained elements that did not quite fit the standards of death metal at the time. The lyrics were very political, in the vein of Napalm Death and other late-1980s hardcore punk bands.  Therion signed with Active Records for its second album, "Beyond Sanctorum". Prior to the recording sessions, Gustafsson left the band to return to the United States, so Therion continued as a trio with Hansson, Forss and Johnsson, the last of whom covered the bass. The album shows a more experimental edge to the death metal music; keyboard and clean vocals were used sparingly.  After the recording, Therion changed members again. Forss left the band, and Hansson had to quit for health issues. For the Central European gigs, Johnsson brought in drummer Piotr Wawrzeniuk from his old band Carbonized, and bassist Andreas Wahl, who was an old friend.

Musical metamorphosis (1993–1996).

Therion released "" in 1993. Its style was less death metal, but more doom metal. The band experimented with elements of jazz, industrial music, traditional 1980s heavy metal and religious chanting. "Masses" sold about 10,000 copies, which was more than the band's first two albums, but hardly a financial success. In order to scale down operations, Active Records stopped releasing new records, and transferred the band to Megarock Records. As the band's touring gigs were not that profitable, Bathelsson and Wahl quit the band, and Fredrik Isaksson was brought in as the new bassist. After a hiatus where Johnsson worked as a vocalist for Messiah, it received an offer to join metal label Nuclear Blast. Megarock Records, lacking the resources to properly promote the band, decided to release Therion without any strings attached. Therion signed with Nuclear Blast in 1994, and has remained with them since.  Therion's first album with Nuclear Blast was "Lepaca Kliffoth", with its single "The Beauty in Black" released in advance of the album. To Johnsson's surprise, "The Beauty in Black" sold 12,000 copies in Europe, before the company stopped printing. The album experimented with more elements: "a classic soprano and bass-baritone, more keyboards, more Persian influences, more melodies". Johnsson had "a new style of singing" that severed their ties to death metal. The album sold around 15,000 copies over the following weeks. Isaksson had some personal problems, and was eventually released from the band. Therion brought in bassist Lars Rosenberg from the death metal band Entombed. The band toured with Annihilator in Germany, and also did a small headlining tour in Argentina and Chile.

Symphonic metal beginning (1996–2001).

In 1996, Therion recorded their experimental album, "Theli". The album heavily featured the vocals of two choirs, as well as vocals from Johnsson, Wawrzeniuk and guest vocalist Dan Swanö. The album featured keyboards and classic samples, which was labeled the "Barmbek Symphony Orchestra" after the subway station next to the studio. Jason Ankeny of Allmusic noted that the album "was almost universally acclaimed as the apex of Therion's career to date, fully realizing Johnsson's taste for elaborate, operatic grandeur". In a month, the album sold 75,000, more than double that of "Lepaca Kliffoth".  Personal issues plagued the band's members. Jonas Mellberg, who had joined as a guitarist from Unanimated, had severe alcohol problems, and walked out during the mixing and mastering sessions. Wawrzeniuk was busy with his studies, so Johnsson brought in more members for their tours, including Tommy Eriksson of Shadowseeds. Rosenberg's drinking problems got worse and he was fired from the band.  In 1997, Therion released "A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming", which contained unreleased songs from "Theli", some covers, and Johnsson's soundtrack that he produced for a short art movie called "The Golden Embrace".  Johnsson noted that the next album, "Vovin", was practically a solo album as it used studio musicians instead of the ones from the "Theli" tour, besides Eriksson, who provided some guitar support. "Vovin" was recorded at Woodhouse Studios; it involved a real string orchestra for the first time, and a "hand picked opera choir" which included Austrian singer Martina Hornbacher, and British vocalist Sarah Jezebel Deva. The album was released in 1998, and in two months, sales had reached 150,000 in Europe alone, doubling sales of "Theli".  The band toured with Moonspell and showcased Hornbacher and Deva on vocals. It brought in Sami Karppinen as the drummer, Kristian Niemann on guitar, and his brother Johan Niemann on bass. The album "Crowning of Atlantis", released in 1999, was a mini-album that was padded to full-length with covers and live tracks.  The band's next release, "Deggial", involved the participation of a full orchestra. Johnsson noted it was 90% another solo album, but with a more permanent band lineup. "Deggial" sold more copies than "Theli" but not as many as "Vovin".

"Secret of the Runes" (2001–2002).

Johnsson had written seven songs but shelved them in order to make a Nordic concept album. He built a recording studio for the band called "Modern Art". The band's tenth album, "Secret of the Runes", was released in 2001, and had themes from the nine worlds of Norse mythology. It included the cover songs of "Crying Days" (Scorpions) and "Summer Night City" (ABBA), of which, Piotr Wawrzeniuk provided vocals. The album received positive reviews, and was an Allmusic editors' pick. Therion headlined tours in Europe and Latin America with Evergrey and My Insanity. Afterwards, Karppinen left the band to focus as a sound engineer for Modern Art, but brought in replacement drummer Richard Evensand.  In 2001, Therion released the compilation album "Bells of Doom" to its official fan club. It includes recordings from the Blitzkrieg days in 1987, demos from 1989 that did not appear on any album, and an unofficial promotional demo from 1994 that enabled the band to land the record deal with Nuclear Blast. The album was later sold through Therion's webstore. In 2002, Therion released its first concert album "Live in Midgård", which contained recordings from its "Secret of the Runes" tour. Mostly drawing from its Budapest concert, the album was released to commemorate the band's 15th anniversary.

"Lemuria" and "Sirius B" (2004–2006).

After the "Secret of the Runes" tour, the band had amassed 55 unreleased songs which included the ones Johnsson had shelved as well as contributions from the Niemann brothers. Johnsson remarked that "we went through the songs and realized that we had enough good material for three albums. Recording one after the other, promoting, and touring each one separately would have taken several years and would have been a bad idea; and being so productive, we would have had another 55 songs waiting when we finally came to the end of it." In 2004, the band released 21 tracks on two albums: "Lemuria" and "Sirius B". The albums were released simultaneously and were available as separate albums or a twin-pack. 171 musicians participated, including the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and a 32-member choir. Contributing to lead vocals were Mats Levén and a returning Piotr Wawrzeniuk.  In July 2005, the band released "Atlantis Lucid Dreaming", which is a compilation of the 1997 tracks that were not part of "The Golden Embrace" soundtrack (not including its Iron Maiden cover of "Children of the Damned"), and seven tracks from its 1999 album "Crowning of Atlantis". It included a bonus live version of "Black Sun".  The band toured "Lemuria / Sirius B" over two years and 106 shows, with its final performance at the ProgPower Festival in Cheltenham, UK on March 21, 2006. The last gig marked Johnsson's final vocal stage performance.  Therion released their first DVD set, "Celebrators of Becoming", on May 2006. The set contains four DVDs which include concert footage from its 2004 visit to Mexico City, documentaries of its 2004–2006 World Tour, Johnsson's art movie "The Golden Embrace", the band's music video singles, bootlegs and commentaries, and two audio CDs from its Mexico City concert.

"Gothic Kabbalah", live classical shows and The 20th Anniversary Tour (2006–2007).

On September 2006, Johnsson announced that recording was completed for a new album with 9 songs written by then drummer, Petter Karlsson. "Gothic Kabbalah" was released on 12 January 2007, and was followed with a tour through Europe, North and South America with Grave Digger and with support act Sabaton. Therion also toured Japan for the first time. The band's Warsaw gig was recorded for the live album and video set "Live Gothic", which was released in 2008.  In these times Therion held live shows that included local symphonic orchestras and choirs. The "Therion Goes Classic" show took place on 9 December 2006, in Bucharest, Romania. Another show followed at the Miskolc Opera Festival in Miskolc, Hungary on 16 June 2007, with future band member Lori Lewis as its featured vocalist. The first half of the show featured orchestral pieces from Dvorak, Verdi, Mozart, Saint-Saens and Wagner. The second half pulled from Therion's repertoire. The song "Clavicula Nox" was featured as a full orchestral version in the first half. The Bucharest concert was broadcast on Romanian television, and its first part was later released together with the entire Miskolc concert as the DVD/CD box set "The Miskolc Experience" in June 2009.  In November–December 2007, Therion had a 20-year anniversary tour with 16 shows in Europe. Songs included "Kali Yuga" parts 1 and 2, the entire "Theli" album, and "Adulruna Rediviva". Part of the set list was determined by fan voting. Some songs were accompanied by keyboardist Ferdy Doernberg and a belly dancer on stage, and some of the shows featured also the ex-singers Piotr Wawrzeniuk and Mats Levén. The Budapest gig of the tour was recorded, but it was released only in February 2014 as a part of the DVD "Adulruna Rediviva And Beyond".

New line up and "Sitra Ahra" (2008–2011).

In 2008, the band announced that its core group of musicians would be parting ways, but Johnsson posted that he was in no way ending Therion. Johan Koleberg became the new drummer, and Nalle Påhlsson the bassist. The band did not tour that year, except for a single open-air festival show in Płock, Poland on 6 September.  On 10 May 2009, following the release of "The Miskolc Experience", Therion announced Thomas Vikström as its new lead vocalist. The band worked on a new album, "Sitra Ahra", which featured new guitarist Christian Vidal, and Snowy Shaw on vocals.  "Sitra Ahra" was released on 17 September 2010 The band toured South and Central America for 17 days, and European tour through November and December.  In March 2011, "Gothic Kabbalah" singer Katarina Lilja left the band for a second time to "re-join the boring civil world and not be a cool rock star anymore". Thomas Vikström's daughter, Linnéa, provided supporting vocals for the band since the Bloodstock Open Air festival in 2011. Therion performed at Hellfest Summer Open Air, ProgPower USA, and the 2012 cruise liner based festival 70000 Tons of Metal. In a Bloodstock interview, Shaw mentioned that the band will work on new material at the end of the year. In September 2011, after four years of collaboration and session work, vocalist Lori Lewis joined Therion as a member. In this year also a board game called "011" was released; it features the band members and is based on the "Sitra Ahra" album.

"Les Fleurs du Mal" and Luciferian Light Orchestra (2012–2016).

On 14 February 2012, Therion announced it was recording a studio album and had planned a 25th Anniversary Tour. "Les Fleurs du Mal" was released on September 28. The album is considered by Johnsson to be an "art project", which includes not only the music, but also special inlay graphics and video clips - in 2015 partly released on a limited edition DVD called "Garden Of Evil". The album consisted of covers of French chansons and pop songs that were performed in the band's style. On the release day the 25th Anniversary Tour was also started through Europe, also featuring the album's contributing keyboardist Stefan Jernståhl. Some leftover songs were released on an EP "Les Épaves" in the end of 2015.  On 14 September, Johnsson posted a statement on the band's website about developing a rock metal opera, and that the band will not be doing any major tours or releasing studio albums. According to this, in 2013 the band was to play only at three minor summer festivals in Europe. In April 2013 this statement was reconsidered by Johnsson itself, and the Rock Opera Unveiled Tour was scheduled for December 2013 with 15 European gigs, to test the fans' acceptance of the new material. The main framework of these shows included excerpts from the future rock opera, and the entire Vovin album due to its 15th anniversary.  On 21 February 2014 two new releases were put on market: a deluxe edition of "Theli" - including three bonus tracks from A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming and a DVD with Theli's live performance - and a DVD set "Adulruna Rediviva And Beyond" with the 2007 Anniversary concert in Budapest and the 2011 Atlanta show.  In 2014 the Rock Opera unveiled tour has continued with a Latin American leg, which has also meant - "due to family and work related reasons" - the last live performances of Lori Lewis. However, she has remained a band member for studio performances. The new touring singer has become Sandra Laureano, debuting on the Summer festival gigs and the tour for the first time in China and through entire Russia in October 2014. The Russian leg of this tour was made upon the invitation of their 2013 tour support band Arkona, and drums were played by their former member Sami Karppinen, as Johan Koleberg was not able to tour with them. However, Sandra as a dramatic soprano did not suit for every song, so she was replaced first by coloratura Isa García Navas, and later Chiara Malvestiti to sing in the shows.  In 2015 Johnsson worked on another side project, called Luciferian Light Orchestra which features songs in the '70es occult rock style. An eponymous album was also released in that year, accompanied by on-stage appearances as support of Therion's 2015 Latin American and 2016 European tours, featuring Vidal and Påhlsson (both of them masked) on guitar. In addition to the last two tours, Therion had the very first acoustic gigs in Latin America and on 3 July 2016 in Bucharest.  CDs and DVDs related to the side projects were not released by Nuclear Blast, but by Johnsson's own label, Adulruna.

The rock musical "Beloved Antichrist" and the upcoming "Leviathan" (2017–).

On 13 November 2016 the band announced, that Johan Koleberg had decided to leave the band "due to different goals in playing music". For the 2017 live gigs the former Amon Amarth member Fredrik Andersson filled in, then on 21 November 2017 Sami Karppinen officially re-joined.  On 26 January, Johnsson revealed he had been suffering from intense pain in the neck and shoulders, and he was diagnosed with two spinal disc herniations (allegedly resulting from years of headbanging), and he was at risk of losing the ability to perform live. As a result, the rock opera project was delayed and the band downplayed their sets of songs in concerts to allow Johnsson to perform. By 8 April, Johnsson announced he had been able to avoid surgery as his condition had improved through physiotherapy, and the band would resume performing at festivals by August, although he would have to play sitting. (by the beginning of 2018, though, Johnsson was able to perform standing up normally again).  Johnsson also arranged the orchestration of Sabaton's stage show with symphonic orchestra, performed July 13, 2017, at the Masters Of Rock festival in Vizovice, Czech Republic.  On 15 August 2017, the band announced the title and the release date of an operatic rock musical. "Beloved Antichrist" - inspired by and partly based on Vladimir Solovyov's "Tale of the Antichrist" - containing over 3 hours of music, and 29 vocal characters is to be scheduled at January 26, 2018, later postponed first to February 2, and finally to February 9.  In 2018 a European and a Latin American tour was scheduled, later also extended for China, and — for the very first time — Australia. The European tour has featured again Imperial Age, whose current album "Legacy Of Atlantis" was made with Vidal, Påhlsson and Thomas Vikström. After the last show of the tour, Linnéa Vikström left the band and she was replaced by the new touring member Rosalía Sairem. Due to health issues of Chiara Malvestiti some of the 2019 gigs were done again by Isa Garcia Navas.  On 10 August 2019 Nalle Pahlsson has decided to withdraw from touring, and remain only a member for songwriting and studio recordings. For the year's only remaining show Justin Biggs from the band Sorcerer was standing in.  The band is currently working on the new album with the title "Leviathan". It's recorded with Snowy Shaw on drums.

Influences.

Therion draws its influences from several different bands. Its former name Megatherion comes from Celtic Frost's 1985 album "To Mega Therion" and much of its music prior to "Theli" was inspired by the 1987 album "Into the Pandemonium". For "Theli", the band drew from Pink Floyd's album "Atom Heart Mother" and progressive rock group Klaatu's album "Hope".  From "Vovin" onwards, the band has drawn inspiration from classical composers like Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, heavy metal acts from the 1980s like Iron Maiden, 1970s hard rock bands such as Scorpions, Uriah Heep, Judas Priest, and "tons of progressive '70s bands that nobody knows anymore these days".

Symbols.

The symbols on Therion's album covers originate from magick, occult, and Dragon Rouge themes. The most common symbol is an {11:5} hendecagram, an eleven-pointed star. First appearing on the 1993 album "", and every album since, it symbolizes the night side of the Qabalah, and has also been called the Star of Seth or the Star of Qliphoth. Johnsson admits that the symbol is important to his magick and lyrics.  Other symbols include:

Therion (formerly Blitzkrieg, Megatherion) is a Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. Its name was inspired by the Celtic Frost album "To Mega Therion". "To Mega Therion" is Greek for "The Great Beast" and was a title used by occultist Aleister Crowley. Originally a death metal band, Therion adjusted its musical style by adding orchestral elements, including choirs, classical musicians, and even a full orchestra at their concert performances. As a result, they are considered pioneers of the symphonic metal genre.

Therion je švédská metalová kapela založená roku 1987 Christoferem Johnssonem. Její jméno pochází z řeckého "therion" (θηρίον), což znamená "šelma" ve smyslu biblické Apokalypsy; Johnsson je převzal z názvu alba švýcarské black metalové kapely Celtic Frost "To Mega Therion" ("velká šelma"; spojení se přímo v Bibli nevyskytuje, ale používal ho Aleister Crowley).


Process.

Milling is a cutting process that uses a milling cutter to remove material from the surface of a work piece. The milling cutter is a rotary cutting tool, often with multiple cutting points. As opposed to drilling, where the tool is advanced along its rotation axis, the cutter in milling is usually moved perpendicular to its axis so that cutting occurs on the circumference of the cutter. As the milling cutter enters the work piece, the cutting edges (flutes or teeth) of the tool repeatedly cut into and exit from the material, shaving off chips (swarf) from the work piece with each pass. The cutting action is shear deformation; material is pushed off the work piece in tiny clumps that hang together to a greater or lesser extent (depending on the material) to form chips. This makes metal cutting somewhat different (in its mechanics) from slicing softer materials with a blade.  The milling process removes material by performing many separate, small cuts. This is accomplished by using a cutter with many teeth, spinning the cutter at high speed, or advancing the material through the cutter slowly; most often it is some combination of these three approaches. The speeds and feeds used are varied to suit a combination of variables. The speed at which the piece advances through the cutter is called feed rate, or just feed; it is most often measured in length of material per full revolution of the cutter.  There are two major classes of milling process:

Milling cutters.

Many different types of cutting tools are used in the milling process. Milling cutters such as end mills may have cutting surfaces across their entire end surface, so that they can be drilled into the work piece (plunging). Milling cutters may also have extended cutting surfaces on their sides to allow for peripheral milling. Tools optimized for face milling tend to have only small cutters at their end corners.  The cutting surfaces of a milling cutter are generally made of a hard and

Equipment.

Milling is performed with a milling cutter in various forms, held in a collett or similar which, in turn, is held in the spindle of a milling machine.

Types and nomenclature.

Mill orientation is the primary classification for milling machines. The two basic configurations are vertical and horizontal. However, there are alternative classifications according to method of control, size, purpose and power source.

Mill orientation.

Alternative classifications.

In addition to horizontal

Alternative terminology.

A milling machine is often called a mill by machinists. The archaic term miller was commonly used in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  Since the 1960s there has developed an overlap of usage between the terms milling machine and machining center. NC/CNC machining centers evolved from milling machines, which is why the terminology evolved gradually with considerable overlap that still persists. The distinction, when one is made, is that a machining center is a mill with features that pre-CNC mills never had, especially an automatic tool changer (ATC) that includes a tool magazine (carousel), and sometimes an automatic pallet changer (APC). In typical usage, all machining centers are mills, but not all mills are machining centers; only mills with ATCs are machining centers.

Computer numerical control.

Most CNC milling machines (also called "machining centers") are computer controlled vertical mills with the ability to move the spindle vertically along the Z-axis. This extra degree of freedom permits their use in diesinking, engraving applications, and 2.5D surfaces such as relief sculptures. When combined with the use of conical tools or a ball nose cutter, it also significantly improves milling precision without impacting speed, providing a cost-efficient alternative to most flat-surface hand-engraving work.  CNC machines can exist in virtually any of the forms of manual machinery, like horizontal mills. The most advanced CNC milling-machines, the multiaxis machine, add two more axes in addition to the three normal axes (XYZ). Horizontal milling machines also have a C or Q axis, allowing the horizontally mounted workpiece to

Tooling.

The accessories and cutting tools used on machine tools (including milling machines) are referred to in aggregate by the mass noun "tooling". There is a high degree of standardization of the tooling used with CNC milling machines, and a lesser degree with manual milling machines. To ease up the organization of the tooling in CNC production many companies use a tool management solution.  Milling cutters for specific applications are held in various tooling configurations.  CNC milling machines nearly always use SK (or ISO), CAT,

CNC pocket milling.

Pocket milling has been regarded as one of the most widely used operations in machining. It is extensively used in aerospace and shipyard industries. In pocket milling the material inside an arbitrarily closed boundary on a flat surface of a work piece is removed to a fixed depth. Generally flat bottom end mills are used for pocket milling. Firstly roughing operation is done to remove the bulk of material and then the pocket is finished by a finish end mill. Most of the industrial milling operations can be taken care of by 2.5 axis CNC milling. This type of path control can machine up to 80% of all mechanical parts. Since the importance of pocket milling is very relevant, therefore effective pocketing approaches can result in reduction in machining time and cost. NC pocket milling can be carried out mainly by two tool paths, viz. linear and non-linear.

Linear tool path.

In this approach, the tool movement is unidirectional. Zig-zag and zig tool paths are the examples of linear tool path.

Zig-zag tool path.

In zig-zag milling, material is removed both in forward and backward paths. In this case, cutting

Zig tool path.

In zig milling, the tool moves only in one direction. The tool has to be lifted and retracted after each cut, due to which machining time increases. However, in case of zig milling surface quality is better.

Non-linear tool path.

In this approach, tool movement is multi-directional. One example of non-linear tool path is contour-parallel tool path.

Contour-parallel tool path.

In this approach, the required pocket boundary is used to derive the tool path. In this case the cutter is always in contact with the work material. Hence the idle time spent in

Curvilinear tool path.

In this approach, the tool travels along a gradually evolving spiral path. The spiral starts at the center of the pocket to be machined and the tool gradually moves towards the pocket boundary. The direction of the tool path changes progressively and local acceleration and deceleration of the tool are minimized. This reduces tool wear.

History.

1780-1810.

Milling machines evolved from the practice of rotary filing—that is, running a circular cutter with file-like teeth in the headstock of a lathe. Rotary filing and, later, true milling were developed to reduce time and effort spent hand-filing. The full story of milling machine development may never be known, because much early development took place in individual shops where few records were kept for posterity. However, the broad outlines are known, as summarized below. From a history-of-technology viewpoint, it is clear that the naming of this new type of machining with the term "milling" was an extension from that word's earlier senses of processing

1810s–1830s.

It is clear that milling machines as a distinct class of machine tool (separate from lathes running rotary files) first appeared between 1814 and 1818. The centers of earliest development of true milling machines were two federal armories of the U.S. (Springfield and Harpers Ferry) together with the various private armories and inside contractors that shared turnover of skilled workmen with them. Between 1912 and 1916, Joseph W. Roe, a respected founding father of machine tool historians, credited Eli Whitney (one of the private arms makers mentioned above) with producing the first true

1840s–1860.

Some of the key men in milling machine development during this era included Frederick W. Howe, Francis A. Pratt, Elisha K. Root, and others. (These same men during the same era were also busy developing the state of the art in turret lathes. Howe's experience at Gay & Silver in the 1840s acquainted him with early versions of both machine tools. His machine tool designs were later built at Robbins & Lawrence, the Providence Tool Company, and Brown & Sharpe.) The most successful milling machine design to emerge during this era was the, which rather than being a specific make and model of machine tool is truly a

1860s.

In 1861, Frederick W. Howe, while working for the Providence Tool Company, asked Joseph R. Brown of Brown & Sharpe for a solution to the problem of milling spirals, such as the flutes of twist drills. These were usually filed by hand at the time. (Helical planing existed but was by no means common.) Brown designed a "universal milling machine" that, starting from its first sale in March 1862, was wildly successful. It solved the problem of 3-axis travel (i.e., the axes that

1870s to World War I.

In these decades, Brown & Sharpe and the Cincinnati Milling Machine Company dominated the american milling machine field. However, hundreds of other firms also built milling machines at the time, and many were significant in various ways. Besides a wide variety of specialized production

World War I and interwar period.

Around the end of World War I, machine tool control advanced in various ways that laid the groundwork for later CNC technology. The jig borer popularized the ideas of coordinate dimensioning (dimensioning of all locations on the part from a single reference point); working routinely in "tenths" (ten-thousandths of an inch, 0.0001") as an everyday machine capability; and using the control to go straight from drawing to part, circumventing jig-making. In 1920 the new tracer design of J.C. Shaw was

Bridgeport milling machine.

In 1936, Rudolph Bannow (1897–1962) conceived of a major improvement to the milling machine. His company commenced manufacturing a new knee-and-column vertical mill in 1938. This was the Bridgeport milling machine, often called a ram-type or turret-type mill because its head has sliding-ram and rotating-turret mounting. The machine became so popular that many other manufacturers created copies and variants. Furthermore, its name came to connote any such variant. The Bridgeport offered enduring advantages over previous models. It was small enough, light enough, and affordable enough to be a practical acquisition for even the smallest machine shop businesses, yet it was also smartly designed, versatile, well-built, and rigid. Its various directions of sliding and pivoting movement allowed the head to approach the work from any angle. The Bridgeport's design became the dominant form for manual milling machines used by several generations of small- and medium-enterprise machinists. By the 1980s an estimated quarter-million Bridgeport milling machines had been built, and they (and their clones) are still being produced today.

1940s–1970s.

By 1940, automation via cams, such as in screw machines and automatic chuckers, had already been very well developed for decades. Beginning in the 1930s, ideas involving servomechanisms had been in the air, but it was especially during and immediately after World War II that they began to germinate (see also Numerical control > History). These were soon combined with the emerging technology of digital computers. This technological development milieu, spanning from the immediate pre–World War II period into the 1950s, was powered by the military capital expenditures that pursued contemporary advancements in the directing of gun and rocket artillery and in missile guidance—other applications in which humans wished to control the kinematics/dynamics of large machines quickly, precisely, and automatically. Sufficient R&D spending probably would not have happened within the machine tool industry alone; but

1980s–present.

Computers and CNC machine tools continue to develop rapidly. The personal computer revolution has a great impact on this development. By the late 1980s small machine shops had desktop computers and CNC machine tools. Soon after,

Milling standards.

National and international standards are used to standardize the definitions, environmental requirements, and test methods used for milling. Selection of the standard to be used is an agreement between the supplier and the user and has some significance in the design of the mill. In the United States, ASME has developed the standards B5.45-1972 "Milling Machines" and B94.19-1997 "Milling Cutters and End Mills".  General tolerances include: +/-.005" for local tolerances across most geometries, +/-.010" for plastics with variation depending on the size of the part, 0.030" minimum wall thickness for metals, and 0.060" minimum wall thickness for plastics.

Milling is the process of machining using rotary cutters to remove material by advancing a cutter into a work piece. This may be done varying direction on one or several axes, cutter head speed, and pressure. Milling covers a wide variety of different operations and machines, on scales from small individual parts to large, heavy-duty gang milling operations. It is one of the most commonly used processes for machining custom parts to precise tolerances.

Frézování kovů je strojní třískové obrábění kovů vícebřitým nástrojem. Hlavní pohyb (rotační) koná nástroj a vedlejší pohyb (přísuv, posuv) obrobek. Klasicky probíhá ve třech osách, ve více než třech osách pracují více-osá obráběcí centra. Frézovací stroj se nazývá frézka, frézovací nástroj fréza. Frézování se dělí na sousledné, kdy se nástroj otáčí ve směru pohybu stolu s obrobkem a nesousledné, kdy je tomu opačně. Dnes se na moderních CNC strojích používá téměř výhradně sousledné frézování, protože přináší delší trvanlivost nástroje. Naopak u starších strojů, u kterých se nepoužívají kuličkové šrouby k ovládání posuvů, se musí vždy použít posuv nesousledný.


History.

The company was founded in 1898 in Augsburg, Germany, by Johann Josef Keller and Jacob Knappich. The acetylene factory "Augsburg" was founded in 1898 by Johann Josef Keller and Jakob Knappich for the production of low-cost domestic and municipal lighting, household appliances and automobile headlights. In 1905, the production was extended to the innovative autonomous welding equipment. After the First World War, Keller and Knappich resumed production of safety-, manual- and power-winches and began the manufacturing of large containers. As a result, the "Bayerische Kesselwagen GmbH" was formed in 1922. The new company was responsible for the development and production of superstructures for municipal vehicles (street cleaning machines, sewage trucks, garbage trucks). In 1927, this business division presented the first large garbage truck. The name "KUKA" came into being in the same year through the company’s name at that time “Keller und Knappich Augsburg”.  Keller & Knappich GmbH merged with part of Industrie-Werke Karlsruhe AG to become Industrie-Werke Karlsruhe Augsburg Aktiengesellschaft, eventually KUKA (Keller und Knappich Augsburg) for short.  The development and manufacture of spot welding equipment began in 1936. Three years later, KUKA already had more than 1,000 employees. After the major destruction of the company during the Second World War in 1945, KUKA started manufacturing welding machines and other small appliances again. With new products such as the double-cylinder circular knitting machine and the portable typewriter "Princess", KUKA introduced new industrial fields and gained independence from the supply sector.  In 1956, KUKA manufactured the first automatic welding system for refrigerators and washing machines and supplied the first multi-spot welding line to Volkswagen AG. Ten years later, the first friction welding machine went into production.  In 1967, the arc welding method was applied for the first time at KUKA. In 1971, the delivery of the first robotic welding system for the S-Class took place. A year later, the magnetic arc-welding machine came to the market.  In 1973, KUKA created its own industrial robot FAMULUS. At that time, the company belonged to the Quandt group.  In 1978, beginning with the IR 601/60, robot production went into mass-production.  In 1980, the Quandt family withdrew and a publicly owned firm was established. In 1981, KUKA’s main activities were grouped into three independent companies: the "KUKA Schweissanlagen und Roboter GmbH", the "KUKA Umwelttechnik GmbH" and the "KUKA Wehrtechnik GmbH", which was re-sold to "Rheinmetall" in 1999. Towards the end of 1982, the "LSW Maschinenfabrik GmbH, Bremen" became a subsidiary of KUKA.  In 1993, the first laser-roof-seam welding systems were manufactured. These welding systems were then further expanded to adhesive bonding and sealing technologies in the following year. Around the same time, KUKA took over the tools & equipment manufacturers "Schwarzenberg GmbH" and expanded its business to China and the USA in the following years.  In 1995, the company was split into KUKA Robotics Corporation and KUKA Schweißanlagen (now KUKA Systems), now both subsidiaries of KUKA AG. The company is a member of the Robotics Industries Association (RIA), of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) and the German engineering association VDMA. Today, KUKA concentrates on solutions for the automation of industrial manufacturing processes.  In 1996, "KUKA Schweissanlagen GmbH" became an independent company and, two years later, the market leader among European welding equipment manufacturers. The supply of the first pressing tools for automobile side-walls made of high-strength steel began in 2002. The company launched the KUKA RoboScan with remote laser welding head in 2003. Since 2006, "KUKA Systems" is operating its own bodyshell factory in Toledo, America and produces the bodywork for the Jeep Wrangler by Chrysler.  In the course of internationalization and expansion of business units and technologies such as reshaping, tooling, bonding, sealing, etc., "KUKA Schweissanlagen GmbH" became "KUKA Systems GmbH" in 2007. In 2010, KUKA presented a newly developed standardized cell concept for welding solutions, KUKA flexibleCUBE.  In the automation sector, KUKA Systems offers standard and customized solutions for industrial production automation; joining technologies and component handling are amongst their activity. The technologies are tested and the production processes are fully optimized prior to the development. In addition, KUKA Systems offers engineering and individual counseling, so that customized/special production solutions can be planned and optimized in co-operation with the customer.  In June 2016, Midea Group offered to buy Kuka for about €4.5 billion ($5 billion). Midea completed the takeover bid in January 2017 by taking 74.55% voting stake in the company.  In late 2017 Kuka announced that 250 employees of KUKA Systems will be terminated. The management named trouble with projects as a reason..  Most robots are finished in "KUKA Orange" (the official corporate color) or black.

Corporate structure.

The company is headquartered in Augsburg, Germany. As of December 2014, KUKA employed more than 13,000 workers. While previously emphasizing customers in the automotive industry, the company has since expanded to other industries. It has 5 divisions:

Notable milestones.

1971 – Europe's first welding transfer line built for Daimler-Benz.  1973 – The world's first industrial robot with six electromechanically driven axes, known as FAMULUS.  1976 – IR 6/60 – An utterly new robot type with six electromechanically driven axes and an offset wrist.  1989 – A new generation of industrial robots is developed – brushless drive motors for a low maintenance and a higher technical availability.  2004 - The first Cobot KUKA LBR 3 is released. This computer controlled lightweight robot is able to interact directly with humans without safety fences and was the result of a collaboration with the German Aerospace Center institute since 1995.  2007 – KUKA Titan – at the time, the biggest and strongest industrial robot with six axes, entered into the Guinness Book of World Records.  2010 – As the only robot family, the robot series KR QUANTEC completely covers the load range of 90 up to 300 kg with a reach of up to 3100 mm for the first time.  2012 – The new small robot series KR AGILUS is launched.  2014 – With a video released in March, the company gained some recognition with the general public. The video supposedly teased their new robot, specialized in Table Tennis and shows a match against Timo Boll, a German professional. It is however not a real match but a commercial with heavy CGI and the video received strong criticism from the table tennis community. The video has been viewed over 10 million times on YouTube and has won numerous awards.  2017 - KUKA robots are heavily featured in a music video by artist Nigel Stanford

System information and application areas.

System information.

The KUKA system software is the operating software and the heart of the entire control. In it, all basic functions are stored which are needed for the deployment of the robot system.  Robots come with a control panel(the KCP, or KUKAControlPanel), also known as a teach pendant, that has a display and axis control buttons for A1-A6, as well an integrated 6D mouse, with which the robot can be moved in manual(teaching) mode. The pendant also allows the user to view and modify existing programs, as well as create new ones. To manually control the axes, an enabling switch (also called a dead man's switch) on the back of the pendant must be pressed halfway in for motion to be possible. The connection to the controller is a proprietary video interface and CAN bus for the safety interlock system and button operation.  A rugged computer located in the control cabinet communicates with the robot system via the MFC, which controls the real-time servo drive electronics. Servo position feedback is transmitted to the controller through the so-called DSE-RDW/RDC connection. The DSE board is in the control cabinet, usually located on or integrated into the MFC, the RDW/RDC board in located in the base of the robot.  The software comprises two elements running simultaneously - the user interface and program storage, which is run on Windows 95 for KRC1 and early KRC2 controllers, Windows XP Embedded for KRC2 controllers, and Windows 7 Embedded for KRC4 controllers, as well as VxWin, a KUKA-modified version of the VxWorks real-time OS for program control and motion planning, which communicates to the MFC.  The systems also contain standard PC peripherals, such as a CD-ROM drive(or 3.5" floppy on older controllers), USB ports, as well as a standard interface, either ISA or PCI/PCIe, for adding software and hardware options for industrial automation, such as Profibus, Interbus, DeviceNet and Profinet, and others.

Fields of application.

Aerospace.

KUKA Systems supplied the TIG welding cell for the upper stage of the Ariane 5 launcher-rocket. TIG welding stands for tungsten inert gas welding and is a special form of arc welding and is one of the core activities of KUKA Systems. The company also provides apparatuses appliances for the construction of aircraft structural elements.  Boeing, Bell and Airbus are among KUKA Systems' respective customers.

Automotive.

The KUKA Systems portfolio includes the spectrum of production automation of joining and assembling of vehicle body structures: from low-scale automated production facilities to highly flexible manufacturing systems; from production of individual equipments or subassemblies to the assembly of complete body structures and mechanical parts. Equipments for assembling discs and mounting systems for vehicle bodies and chassis (so-called “marriage”) or component installation are also available.  BMW, GM, Chrysler, Ford, Volvo, Volkswagen and Daimler AG are among the customers in this business sector.

Production of rail vehicles.

Manufacturers of rail vehicles are also among the customers of KUKA Systems e.g., for the construction of locomotives, subway wagons or in setting up of innovative and highly automated production lines for freight wagons.

Production of photovoltaic modules.

KUKA Systems offers solutions for every step of the photovoltaic module production - from brick-sawing to cell handling and cross-tie soldering to framing and packaging of modules.

Welding technology – General.

KUKA Systems represents itself in various other industrial sectors as well. A few examples out of many are the production of baby strollers or the production of white goods for BSH (Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH).

Awards and certificates.

Application areas.

The industrial robots are used in many application areas, such as material handling, loading, and unloading of machines, palletizing and depalletizing, spot and arc welding. They are used in some large companies, predominantly in the automotive industry, but also in other industries such as the aerospace industry. Specific applications include:

KUKA Entertainment.

In 2001, KUKA formed a partnership with RoboCoaster Ltd to develop the world's first passenger-carrying industrial robot. The ride uses roller coaster-style seats attached to robotic arms and provides a roller coaster-like motion sequence through a series of programmable maneuvers. Riders themselves can also program the motions of their ride. A second generation system, the RoboCoaster G2, was deployed at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida in 2010, in conjunction with Dynamic Structures. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey's seats are mounted on robotic arms, which are in turn mounted on a track allowing the arms to travel through the attraction while performing their movements in synchronization with the ride's show elements (animated props, projection surfaces, etc.).  KUKA's partnership with RoboCoaster has also seen KUKA robots appear in some Hollywood films. In the James Bond film "Die Another Day", in a scene depicting an ice palace in Iceland, NSA agent Jinx, played by Halle Berry, is threatened by laser-wielding robots. In the Ron Howard film "The Da Vinci Code", a KUKA robot hands Tom Hanks’ character Robert Langdon a container containing a cryptex.  In 2007, KUKA introduced a simulator, based on the Robocoaster. RoboCoaster Ltd does not market this product. An installation of this version is The Sum Of All Thrills ride at EPCOT in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.  In recent years, KUKA robotic arms can be found on Royal Caribbean cruise liners at their bionic bars. The user selects their desired drink or creates a custom one on a tablet interface. The robotic arms then use an array of spirits, mixers and liqueurs to accurately and precisely craft the desired cocktail.

KUKA is a German manufacturer of industrial robots and solutions for factory automation. It is owned by the Chinese company Midea Group.

KUKA AG je německá technologická společnost, významný světový producent průmyslových robotů a řešení automatizace výroby. Většina z jejich více než dvaceti dceřiných společností jsou obchodní a servisní zastoupení, nacházející se mimo jiné ve Spojených státech amerických, v Mexiku, Brazílii, Japonsku, Číně, Koreji, na Taiwanu, v Indii a většině evropských zemích.


History.

Adoption and development.

The German Rifle Commission began firing tests of the Maxim gun at Zorndorf in 1889. In 1892, Ludwig Loewe's company signed a seven-year contract with Hiram Maxim for production of the gun in Berlin. The Imperial German Navy ordered Maxim guns from Loewe in 1894. The Navy deployed them on the decks of ships and for use in amphibious warfare. In 1896, Loewe founded a new subsidiary, the "Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken" (DWM), to handle production. The agreement with Maxim concluded in 1898 and DWM received orders from Austria-Hungary, Argentina, Switzerland and Russia.  The Imperial German Army first considered using the Maxim gun as an artillery weapon The German light infantry "Jäger" troops began trials of the gun in 1898. The Guards Corps, XVI Corps and XVI Corps made more experiments in 1899. The tests produced a recommendation of independent six-gun detachments to march with the cavalry, with the guns mounted on carriages pulled by horses.  The Army purchased the modified MG 99 and MG 01 versions of the Maxim gun from DWM in limited quantities. The MG 99 introduced the sled mount that would remain standard in the MG 08. The MG 01 added lightweight spoked wheels, making possible the pushing and pulling of the weapon. The MG 01 was also exported to Chile and Bulgaria. By 1903, the German Army had 11 machine-gun detachments serving with cavalry divisions. Criticisms of the MG 01 stressed its limited mobility and inability to keep up with the cavalry. The DWM and Spandau Arsenal developed the design further, decreasing weight by 7.7 kg, adding a detachable gun shield, an option for an optical sight, and removing the wheels. The result was the MG 08, which went into production at Spandau in 1908.  The German Army observed the effectiveness of the Maxim gun in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, many of them German exports. With the importance of the machine gun apparent, the Army asked for additional funding from the Reichstag to increase the supply of machine guns. After criticism of the request from Socialist deputies, the Army's demand for six guns per regiment was reduced to six guns per brigade in 1907. The Army Bill of 1912 finally gave the Army its demanded six guns per regiment. On 3 August 1914, soon after the outbreak of World War I, the Army had 4,411 MG 08s, along with 398 MG 01s, 18 MG 99s and two MG 09s.

Training and use.

Training was regulated by the Field Service Regulations of 1908, providing the German Army six years to train with the guns before the outbreak of World War I.

MG 08/15.

A lightened and thus more portable version — produced by "stepping-down" the upper rear and lower forward corners of the original MG 08's rectangular-outline receiver and breech assembly, and reducing the cooling jacket's diameter to 92.5 millimeters — was tested as a prototype in 1915 by a team of weapon designers under the direction of an "Oberst" Friedrich von Merkatz—the MG 08/15.  The MG 08/15 had been designed to be manned by two trained infantrymen spread on the ground around the gun and in the prone position. To accomplish that purpose, the MG 08/15 featured a short bipod rather than a heavy four-legged sled mount, plus a wooden gunstock and a pistol grip. At 18 kg (39.7 lbs), the MG 08/15 was lighter and less cumbersome than the standard MG 08, since the MG 08/15 had been designed to provide increased mobility of infantry automatic fire. It nevertheless remained a bulky water-cooled weapon that was quite demanding on the quality and training of its crews.  Accurate fire was difficult to achieve and usually in short bursts only. It was first introduced in battle during the French ""Chemin des Dames"" offensive in April 1917, where it contributed to the very high casualty count among the French assailants. Its deployment in increasingly large numbers with all front line infantry regiments continued in 1917 and during the German offensives of the spring and summer of 1918.  The MG 08/15 became, by far, the most common German machine gun deployed in World War I since it reached a full allocation of six guns per company or 72 guns per regiment in 1918. By that time, there were four times as many MG 08/15 light machine guns than heavy MG 08 machine guns in each infantry regiment. To attain this goal, about 130,000 MG 08/15 had to be manufactured during World War I, most of them by the Spandau and Erfurt government arsenals.  An air-cooled and thus water-free and lighter version of the MG 08/15, designated as the MG 08/18, was battlefield tested in small numbers during the last months of the war. The MG 08/18's barrel was heavier and it could not be quick-changed, thus overheating was inevitably a problem.  The word 08/15 lives on as an idiom in colloquial German, (pronounced "Null-acht-fünfzehn"), being used even today as a term to denote something totally ordinary and lacking in originality or specialness.

Aircraft versions.

lMG 08.

A lightened air-cooled version of the original water-cooled rectangular pattern-receiver MG 08 infantry automatic ordnance, the lMG 08, was developed by the Spandau arsenal as a rigidly mounted aircraft machine gun and went into production in 1915, in single-gun mounts, for use on the E.I through the E.III production versions of the Fokker Eindecker. A lower case letter "L" beginning the prefix meant "luftgekühlt" (air-cooled) rather than "Luft" (air).  The lMG 08s were later used in pairs by the time of the introduction of the Fokker D.III and Albatros D.I biplane fighters in 1916, as fixed and synchronized cowling guns firing through the propeller. The Parabellum MG14 built by DWM was a lighter (22 lbs) and quite different, air-cooled Maxim system gun with a very high rate of fire (600-700 rounds/min). It was introduced in 1915, and was, but not without serious problems on occasion (as noted by Otto Parschau), prototyped on Parschau's own A.16/15 Fokker A.III "green machine" monoplane with the Fokker "Stangensteuerung" gun synchronizer, received back with the synchronized Parabellum by Parschau on May 30, 1915 and first used in quantity as the synchronized forward-firing armament on the five examples of the Fokker M.5K/MG "Eindecker" production prototype aircraft, and soon afterwards served as a flexible aircraft observer's gun for rear defense.  The initial model of the air-cooled "Spandau" lMG 08 front-firing cowling machine guns had lost the stocks, grips, and bipods of the infantry MG 08s to adapt it to a fixed, forward-firing mount forward of an aircraft's cockpit, with gun synchronization allowing safe firing through a spinning propeller's arc. The 105 mm diameter cylindrical sheet metal water jacket used for the infantry's MG 08, an important support member for the barrel, was initially over-lightened with cooling slots, with fourteen rows of such slots completely surrounding and running the whole length of the jacket's circumferential sheetmetal.  These alternated between seven rows of nine "oblong" slots, alternating with seven more intervening rows of eight slots and twin round holes fore and aft of the slots apiece. Because of the important physical reinforcement provided by the cooling jacket on the MG 08 series of guns, the excessive slotting of the initial model of the air-cooled lMG 08 — amounting to slightly over 50% of the total area of the cylindrical cooling jacket's original circumferential sheetmetal — rendered the gun as too fragile, to the point of making it impossible to fit the muzzle booster that the water-cooled infantry MG 08 guns could be fitted with.  The later models of lMG 08 air-cooled machine gun variously "tweaked" the amount of slotting of the barrel by reducing the amount of sheet metal removed from it in minor ways through at least two or three trial formats, and eventually in the final versions produced, had the slotting omitted at the extreme ends of the cooling jacket's cylindrical member, with a 13 cm wide area of solid sheet metal at the breech end, and a 5 cm wide solid area at the muzzle end, giving the resultant gun much more rigidity. The lMG 08 also retained unchanged the rectangular rear receiver and breech assembly of the water-cooled MG 08 infantry weapon.

LMG 08/15.

Later, the MG 08's receiver would be lightened by being "stepped down" at its upper-rear and lower-forward corners as the more refined and lighter weight LMG 08/15 version was developed, using the same airframe mounting geometry as the earlier ordnance to allow interchangeability between the earlier lMG 08 and later LMG 08/15 models, with the still well-perforated cooling jacket reduced to a 92.5 mm diameter. The LMG 08/15 was introduced in 1917.  The lMG 08 and LMG 08/15 guns were always used on fixed-wing aircraft, as fixed forward-aimed synchronized firing ordnance initially in single mounts for Germany's 1915-16 era Fokker Eindecker and Halberstadt D.II "scout" single-seat fighters, and by 1916 in dual mounts, first appearing on the mass-produced examples of Robert Thelen's Albatros D.I and D.II fighters in late 1916, and singly on German "C-class" armed two-seat observation aircraft for synchronized forward-firing armament. The usual ammunition load for fighters was for longer, 500 round, belts, one for each gun.  A device, occasionally fitted to the rear surface of the later LMG 08/15's receiver backplate, told the pilot how much ammunition was left to fire. Later on a significant upgrade to the gun's aerial usability was the fitting of the Klingstrom device on the right side of the receiver, which allowed the gun to be cocked and loaded with one hand from the cockpit. Various cocking/charging handle styles evolved with a simplified distinctive long handled cocking/charging device finally becoming preferred late in the war.  LMG 08/15's used the 30mm "two hole" ammunition belts of the flexible Parabellum MG14 machine gun rather than the wider "three hole" belts of the MG 08/15 water-cooled infantry weapon. It is possible that these belts were used as they were a bit lighter and less bulky than the wider "three hole" ground gun belts and certainly made for standardization which would have been easier for the armorers and in addition allowed for smaller and lighter "tubes" or "chutes" that guided the empty belts into storage containers in the aircraft after firing.  It is a common misconception that the tubes or chutes coming out of the fixed mounted aviation LMG 08/15 fixed guns were for expended cartridge cases. In actuality these attachments were for guiding the empty cartridge belts into a container inside the fuselage of the aircraft so that the belts would not interfere with the operation of the aircraft. As the entire MG 08 "Spandau" family of German machine guns ejected their empty cartridge cases forward through a round hole in the receiver's lower forward surface, immediately under the aft end of the barrel's cylindrical cooling-jacket (as can be clearly seen on many videos), these cartridge cases were guided out of the aircraft (except on Martin Kreutzer-designed Fokker biplane fighter aircraft, and the Fokker fighters designed by Kreutzer's successor Reinhold Platz) through tubes from under the barrel to the bottom of the fuselage. With Fokker designed aircraft following the Eindecker, the cartridge cases were ejected without tubes from the receiver hole directly into open trays that guided the tumbling cartridge cases backward and sideways onto the sloped fuselage decking, which then streamed down past the cockpit on either side. These trays are clearly visible in photographs but have rarely been recognized for their purpose.  Hermann Göring, who flew both the Fokker Dr.I and Fokker D.VII was so annoyed with the case tumbling out in front of him that he had deflectors made on his aircraft to ensure the empty cartridge cases did not find their way into his cockpit. On photographs of Göring's aircraft these plates, seen only on his aircraft, are very prevalent and have even been recognized in scale models of his aircraft copying his particular planes, but even then most historians have failed to recognize their purpose. Both empty belt guides and trays were attached directly to the machine guns rather than to the aircraft. In the famous film showing Australian officers handling the LMG 08/15s from Baron von Richthofen's crashed triplane, the Fokker type belt tubes/chutes and empty cartridge trays can be clearly seen still attached to the guns.  More than 23,000 examples of the LMG 08/15 and an unknown number of the lMG 08 were produced during World War I.

Anti-tank and anti-aircraft variant.

A variant chambered in the same 13.2 x 92 mm SR round as the Mauser Anti-Tank Rifle was introduced in 1918. Designated MG 18 TuF (), it was issued in limited numbers in late World War I.

Chinese version.

Based on the commercial MG09, in 1935, the Chinese began to produce the derivative Type 24 Heavy machine gun, which was not based solely on German drawings and introduced several improvements and new features.  The Type 24 Heavy machine gun, first introduced to the National Revolutionary Army in 1935, designed to replace the original MG 08. It was the standard heavy machine gun for all Nationalists, Communists, and Warlords from 1935. They were usually made in the Hanyang Arsenal. Like the original MG 08, because of transportation difficulties, the M1917 Browning machine gun and other machine guns slowly replaced the Type 24 for the NRA after the Chinese Civil War. The PM M1910, and the SG-43 Goryunov (or Type 53/57 Machine gun) slowly replaced the Type 24 Heavy machine gun after the Chinese Civil War, but it was kept in service with the PLA, KPA and the NVA until the 1960s during the Vietnam War.  The Type 24 heavy machine gun's tripod resembles the tripod of the MG 08. This gun is not able to be mounted on sledge mounts. When aiming at enemy infantry, it usually comes with a muzzle disk. When used as an anti-aircraft gun, it uses a metal pole to make the tripod higher and usually does not come with a muzzle disk. The gun's receiver is similar to the MG 08's gun body. Like the original MG 08, it needs a crew of four.  The Type 24 heavy machine gun is chambered with the 7.92×57mm Mauser round, the standard Chinese military rifle cartridge of Nationalist China.  After the Chinese Civil War, People's Republic of China militia and reserve units converted a number of Type 24 HMG into the 7.62×54mmR Russian cartridge. They were used for training or as filming prop, and never entered service.

The "Maschinengewehr" 08, or MG 08, was the German Army's standard machine gun in World War I and is an adaptation of Hiram S. Maxim's original 1884 Maxim gun. It was produced in a number of variants during the war. The MG 08 served during World War II as a heavy machine gun in many German infantry divisions, although by the end of the war it had mostly been relegated to second-rate fortress units.

Pelops (řecky "Πέλοψ"; latinsky "Pelops") je v řecké mytologii syn sipylského krále Tantala, později král v Píse a dobyvatel Peloponnésu („Pelopova ostrova“).


Overview.

The host unit is the 86th Airlift Wing (86 AW), commanded by Brigadier General Richard G. Moore, Jr. The 86th Airlift Wing is composed of six groups, 27 squadrons and three bases in Germany, Spain, and Belgium. Its mission is the operation and maintenance of airlift assets consisting of C-130Js, C-20s, C-21s, C-40B and C-37A Gulfstream aircraft throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  Also at Ramstein is the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing (formerly the 435th Air Base Wing) (435 AGOW), which focuses on base-support responsibilities within the KMC. It is composed of five groups and 20 squadrons. The wing provides rapid mobility and agile combat support for military operations, and maintains expeditionary forces and infrastructure.  The commander of the 435th AGOW is Colonel Michael T. Rawls.  The new 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing stood up on 4 September 2008. The current commander of the 521st AMOW is Colonel Thomas Cooper.  Ramstein's wings are assigned to the headquarters 3rd Air Force also based at Ramstein AB, which controls most of the USAF Wings throughout Europe.  Ramstein AB is part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC), where more than 54,000 American service members and more than 5,400 US civilian employees live and work. U.S. organizations in the KMC also employ the services of more than 6,200 German workers. Air Force units in the KMC alone employ almost 9,800 military members, bringing with them nearly 11,100 family members. There are more than 16,200 military, U.S. civilian and U.S. contractors assigned to Ramstein AB alone.  In 1984, an enlisted airman (Sgt Darrel Dietlein) assigned to the 1964th Communications Group, solicited National Headquarters Civil Air Patrol to charter the first "Cadet Squadron" in Germany, naming the unit "Ramstein Cadet Squadron" and becoming the unit's first commander as a CAP 1Lt. The Ramstein Cadet Squadron was formed with Captain Mark Bailey serving as the unit's first liaison officer, as well as other like minded military volunteers and roughly six cadets. To this day, the squadron enjoys vibrant member participation, as well as base support, hosting drill competitions and encampments along with their traditional military studies and aerospace education efforts. The Ramstein Cadet Squadron commander as of February 2019 was Lt Col Chris Blank. The squadron is the parent unit for 2 flights located at Wiesbaden Army Airfield and Patch Barracks, Stuttgart. Current membership as of April 2019 was 124 members.  In the subsequent years, a companion cadet squadron was formed at Spangdahlem Air Base. Distance learning cadets are located at SHAPE, Belgium and Hohenfels, Germany.

Current status.

From 2004 to 2006, Ramstein Air Base underwent an extensive expansion with a major construction project – including an all-new airport terminal, among other new facilities, through the so-called Rhein-Main Transition Program which was initiated in support of the total closure of Rhein-Main Air Base on 30 December 2005 and transferring all its former capacities to Ramstein Air Base (70%) and Spangdahlem Air Base (30%).  While the KMC remains the largest U.S. community overseas at 53,000 people, the defense drawdown continues to shape its future. Due to the departure of other main operating installations, more than 100 geographically separated units receive support from Ramstein.  Ramstein Air Base also served as temporary housing for the United States men's national soccer team during the 2006 World Cup.  There is often a Summer Camp to Ramstein from British CCF (RAF) and ATC cadets, as well as Civil Air Patrol encampments and tours like the ones held in July 2015 and June 2016.

History.

The construction of the air base was a project designed and undertaken by the French Army and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1949 to 1952. It was an example of international collaboration: designed by French engineers, constructed by local businesses and large number of temporary and migrant workers of Italy, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Turkey and operated by Americans.  The area was a swamp that had to be built up by two meters (six feet). A train line was laid out from Einsiedlerhof-Kaiserslautern in a yoke shape around to the current base and back down to the Landstuhl spur in 1948 by agreement of the U.S. and French Occupational Forces. Trainloads of earth were moved over the line and spread over the base's current area to raise it to its current level. Once the ground was level, building construction began. Two bases were laid out. Landstuhl Air Base on the south side and Ramstein Air Station (station, no airstrip) on the north. From 1948 to the opening of the bases in 1953 it was the largest one spot construction site in Europe employing over 270,000 Europeans at one time.

Major USAF units assigned.

Source: Fletcher, "Air Force Bases Volume II"

Major U.S. Army units assigned.

Origins.

In 1940, construction of today's "Bundesautobahn 6" was stopped when a bridge that was being built across the Rhine River near Mannheim collapsed, leaving a section of autobahn that could not be used. A part of the unused autobahn to the west of Mannheim, near Kaiserslautern, was used as an airstrip by the Luftwaffe. The airstrip was also used by the advancing U.S. Army Air Forces during the final months of World War II. The old autobahn section is still used as the access road to the east and west gates of the base and the A 6 was rebuilt south of the air base after the war.  During the initial postwar era, the USAAF repaired several former Luftwaffe airfields in Bavaria which was part of the American occupation zone of Germany. With the advent of the Berlin Blockade and the chilling of relations with the Soviet Union by 1948 it became obvious to United States Air Force planners that these bases were tactically untenable because of their proximity to the East German and Czechoslovakian borders.  With the creation of NATO in response to Cold War tensions in Europe in 1949, USAFE wanted its vulnerable fighter units in what was then West Germany moved west of the Rhine River to provide greater air defense warning time. France agreed to provide air base sites within their zone of occupation in the Rhineland-Palatinate as part of the NATO expansion program.  Construction of the modern USAF base near Kaiserslautern began in April 1948 under the provisions of a Franco-American reciprocal agreement. Two separate, but adjoining bases were designed. A headquarters base for Twelfth Air Force, along with several NATO organizations, designated as Ramstein Air Station; and an operational fighter base, designated as Landstuhl Air Base. What is today known as Kisling Memorial Drive would separate the two facilities.  Enough construction was completed in mid-1952, that Landstuhl AB was opened on 5 August. Its facilities included a runway, dispersal hardstands, a control tower, ramps, and other flight-related facilities and the associated flying and support units. On 1 February 1952, Det 1, 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing arrived at Landstuhl AB from Neubiberg Air Base near Munich.  On 1 June 1953 Ramstein Air Station was opened. Ramstein was the location of headquarters, Twelfth Air Force, and supported family housing, base exchange, commissary, dependents' schools and other administrative offices for the WAFs (Women's Air Force). The barracks that were built at Ramstein AS were used to house WAFs and single women that worked as U.S. Government Employees at both Ramstein AS and Landstuhl AB. On 27 April 1953, Headquarters, Twelfth Air Force was activated on Ramstein Air Base, having moved from its joint facilities with HQ USAFE at Wiesbaden AB. What was not generally known at the time, and not made public until after the end of the Cold War in 1993, was the desire to have HQ Twelfth Air Force in close proximity to the Air Defense Operations Center (ADOC) – Kindsbach, AKA 'Kindsbach Cave' – the site of NATO's underground combat operations center.  The 86th Air Base Group was activated as the main base support unit for Landstuhl, while the 7030th HQ Support Group was the main base support unit for Ramstein. On 1 December 1957, the two bases were consolidated into the largest NATO-controlled air base in service on the continent. It was called "Ramstein–Landstuhl Air Base", but later, after the German government continued construction of the A6 autobahn from Kaiserslautern to Saarbrücken the autobahn cut off access at the south of the base which is where the main gate was in the city limit of Landstuhl. The main gate was moved to the west side of the base which was in the town of Ramstein. The two bases were joined and the current Kisling Memorial Drive cut off to the public which made one base. In 1961 the base was officially named "Ramstein Air Base".  One legacy of the two separate air bases is that the north side of Ramstein retained a separate APO from the south side. The north side (Ramstein AB) is APO AE 09012, while the south side (Landstuhl AB) is APO AE 09009. Also separate Combat Support Groups, the 7030th for the north side, and the 86th for the south side existed. These were consolidated in the 1980s, and the two Combat Support units were merged into the 377th Combat Support Wing. There is still a north and south side Fitness Centers. The current northside Community Center before housed the WAF NCO Club. As well, there were two Movie Theaters on the North side and two on the South side. Currently, only two (still stand on the north side, a remodeled Nightengale Theater (known before as the Four Corners Theater)) on the corner across from the Base Gase Station and the north side AAFES dry cleaners was known as the Ramstein Rocket Theater. On the South side the current Hercules Theater (Falcon Theater) next to HQ 86th Air Wing and a non-existent theater for which new barracks are currently under construction at the corner across the street from Moms/Gear-up shops called the Landstuhler Knights Theater.  Near the Ramstein Air Base is the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC), operated by the United States Army. Although part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community, LRMC has a separate history and was never a part of Ramstein or Landstuhl Air Bases, although both facilities have utilized the medical facilities at LRMC since they were established in 1953. Currently there are plans on the drawing board from the U.S. Department of Defense to build a new Medical Center on the current U.S. Army Weilerbach Storage Installation just to the east of Ramstein AB. Construction is to begin in early 2012 and to be completed in and around 2024. A twelve-story facility to house all departments of LRMC and the current Ramstein AB Clinic along with Dental Clinic facilities for the whole KMC. In turn, the East Gate to Ramstein AB will be extended from its current location to just off the Autobahn 6 Einsiedlerhof exit to the base at what is known as the Elvis Gate.

Operational history.

86th Wing.

Reassigned from Neubiberg Air Base, West Germany in 1952 and except for a period between 1968 and 1973, the 86th Wing, under various designations, has been the main operational and host unit at Ramstein Air Base.  Throughout the 1950s the 86th was primarily a Fighter-Bomber Wing. In 1960, it was realigned to an air defense mission and became the 86th Air Division (Defense). The 86th AD was inactivated in 1968. Returning as an F-4 Phantom II Tactical Fighter Wing in 1973, the 86th TFW performed that mission until 1994, deploying components to the middle east during the 1990 Gulf War.  On 14 August 1976, the Strategic Air Command 306th Strategic Wing was activated at Ramstein with a KC-135 air refueling and an RC-135 reconnaissance mission. The 306th also functioned as the focal point for all SAC operations in Europe, and as liaison between SAC and USAFE. The wing moved to RAF Mildenhall, England on 1 July 1978.  In June 1985, the 316th Air Division was activated, centralizing command authority at Ramstein. The 86 TFW became the division's flight operations arm, while the newly formed 377th Combat Support Wing, also activated in 1985, became responsible for the logistical and administrative support on base, replacing the 86th and 7030 Combat Support Wings. On 28 August 1988, Ramstein Air Base was the site of the tragic Ramstein airshow disaster, which killed 72 spectators and three pilots, and injured hundreds.  After the Cold War, the 86th was realigned to become the 86th Airlift Wing. On 1 July 1993 the 55th Aeromedical Airlift Squadron moved from the 435th AW at Rhein-Main Air Base Germany to Ramstein. On 1 October, the 75th and 76th Airlift Squadron arrived at Ramstein from the 60th AW at Travis Air Force Base California, and 437th AW at Charleston AFB South Carolina, respectively. A year later on 1 October 1994, the 37th Airlift Squadron was transferred to Ramstein from Rhein-Main.  In 1999, the activation of the 86th Contingency Response Group brought the airfield and aerial port operations and providing force protection at contingency airfields mission to the wing.  On 24 May 2004, the 38th Combat Support Wing was activated to enhance support to USAFE geographically separated units. This wing was inactivated in 2007. The 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing was activated on 4 September 2008. The wing is the headquarters for the existing 721st Air Mobility Operations Group at Ramstein and the 521st AMOG at Naval Station Rota, Spain. The 521st AMOW provides an enhanced level of control for the AMC route structure in Europe, which includes critical locations for getting people, cargo and patients to and from current war zones.

26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing.

On 7 March 1966, French President Charles de Gaulle announced that France would withdraw from NATO's integrated military structure. The United States was informed that it must remove its military forces from France by 1 April 1967.  As a result, the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, based at Toul-Rosieres Air Base, France and two of its squadrons, the 38th and 32d, equipped with the RF-4C Phantom II was relocated to Ramstein on 5 October 1966.  Assigned squadrons of the 26th TRW at Ramstein were:  While at Ramstein the 26th TRW acquired a number of other units with different flying missions. One function gained by the 26 TRW, almost immediately after arriving at Ramstein, was the maintenance and flying of the HQ USAFE liaison aircraft. In addition, the Wing was responsible for flying members of the HQ USAFE staff to Air Force and NATO bases throughout Europe. In addition, the 26th TRW was only designated as a flight, because of its small size. It consisted of a mixture of aircraft, including: T-29s, T-33s, T-39s, C-54s, O-2s, H-19s, and UH-1s.  In 1971 a detachment of the 630th Military Airlift Support Squadron from Rhein-Main Air Base was assigned to Ramstein and a large cargo aerial port constructed. This allowed Military Airlift Command C-141 and C-5 Galaxy aircraft to use Ramstein as a transshipment point for material, which was then moved within USAFE by C-130 tactical transports.  In the spring of 1972, the 7th Special Operations Squadron (SOS) was assigned flying C-130Es, C-47As, and UH-1Ns. Because of the special operations mission of the 7 SOS, it reported directly to HQ USAFE for operational control.  As part of operation "Creek Action", a command-wide effort to realign functions and streamline operations, HQ USAFE transferred the 26th TRW from Ramstein to Zweibrücken Air Base, and the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing was reassigned from Zweibrücken to Ramstein on 31 January 1973.

NATO command center.

From its inception, Ramstein was designed as a NATO command base. In 1957, Ramstein provided support for NATO's HQ Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force, which moved to Ramstein from Trier Air Base on 10 November 1957 upon the closure of that facility. Also on that date, HQ Twelfth Air Force was transferred to Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas and was assigned to Tactical Air Command. It was replaced by HQ Seventeenth Air Force (USAFE) which was moved from North Africa. In turn, the 17th AF was replaced by its mother unit HQ USAFE from Lindsey Air Station, Wiesbaden, Germany in 1973. The HQ 17th AF was moved to Sembach AB at that time and controlled all USAF Air Divisions and Wings north of the Alps, with the exception of the British Isles and Scandinavia, which were controlled by HQ 3rd AF at Mildenhall.  On 31 January 1973, several headquarters were relocated into and out of Ramstein, when Seventeenth AF moved to Sembach Air Base to make room for the expected move of HQ USAFE to Ramstein. This entire operation, code-named "Creek Action", was carried out as part of the USAF's new worldwide policy of locating the most vital headquarters in thinly populated rural areas rather than near cities. Later, HQ USAFE was moved due to the fact that US Intelligence found that the Soviets had plans to invade Western Europe through the Fulda Gap in Germany. The military thought to move vital HQs on the other side of the Rhein River for protection.  As a result of this policy change, Ramstein air base became a large multi-national NATO center: in addition to the USAFE's headquarters, it also housed the new NATO headquarters of the Allied Air Forces Central Europe (AAFCE).  The AAFCE also commanded the 2nd Allied Tactical Air Force (2ATAF) and the 4th ATAF. The 4th ATAF, which had been headquartered at Ramstein for many years, included the 1st Canadian Air Group, 1st and 2nd Divisions of the West German Air Force, and units of the USAFE's 3rd and 17th Air Force.  HQ USAFE fully completed its move from Wiesbaden to Ramstein early 1991.  With USAFE's arrival in 1973, Ramstein entered a period of expansion. The duel commander of the 316th AD / 86 TFW became host commander of Americans living in the Kaiserslautern Military Community instead of the US Army 21st Commanding General. The Wiesbaden USAF Community was then traded to the US Army Control as for an even Kaiserlautern switch. The KMC through the 1950s – to the early 1990s had an average population of Americans of 110,000 outnumbering those Germans in the City of Kaiserslautern for that time.  Allied Air Forces Central Europe was established at Ramstein on 28 June 1974. Ramstein subsequently provided support for other headquarters, including the 322nd Airlift Division which arrived on 23 June 1978, and SAC's 7th Air Division, which arrived on 1 July 1978.  In December 1980, HQ Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force was moved from Ramstein to Heidelberg and co-located with HQ Central Army Group.  Today, the base is home to the Allied Air Command, which is responsible to Joint Force Command Brunssum which is the only and main NATO command unit on Ramstein AB.

ADOC Kindsbach.

Close to Ramstein was the site of Air Defense Operations Center (ADOC) – Kindsbach, AKA 'Kindsbach Cave' – the site of Europe's underground combat operations center.  The facility was located in a former German western front command headquarters. The French took control of the underground bunker after World War II, and USAFE assumed control in 1953. After major renovations, USAFE opened the center on 15 August 1954.  The center was a state-of-the-art, 67-room, facility where USAFE could have led an air war against the Soviet Union. The center had a digital computer to work out bombing problems, cryptographic equipment for coded message traffic and its own photo lab to develop reconnaissance photos. Responsible for an air space extending deep behind the Iron Curtain, the center interacted directly with The Pentagon, NATO, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and all USAFE bases. With its massive telephone switchboard and 80 teletype machines, the cave was plugged into everything in the outside world. The center was receiving more than 1,000 calls a day.  As a further measure of protection, the cave was fully self-contained with its own water supply, electric backup-generators, climate controls, dining facilities and sleeping accommodations for its 125-man crew. Visitor passes were rarely issued to this secret facility.  Throughout the years, leadership changed but USAFE led the operations through numbered Air Forces. The center's commander was the USAFE Advanced Echelon. The glassed-in office was on the top floor of the three-story underground command center. Directly under the office was the management for offensive air operations. And the bottom floor office was the management for defensive air operations – to include support for U.S. Army forces and German Civil Defense. All three offices had a full view of the massive Air Operations Center map on the opposing wall.  The AOC was the largest room in the complex. Its three-story map was used to plot minute-by-minute movements of friendly and unidentified aircraft. But the center was much more than just a tracking station, because it could also react to threats. They always knew the current operational status of air weapons in theater including missiles, and could dispatch armed response "at a moment's notice".  By the early 1960s, the manual plotting system used to track aircraft at the cave and elsewhere throughout Germany was too slow and inaccurate for the quick responses necessary. Beginning in 1962, airmen trained in the new 412L air weapons control system began to arrive in Germany and at the cave. Over the next year, the new GE semi-automatic system was installed. When complete at the cave, the current air picture over East and West Germany, as well as parts of the eastern soviet bloc countries, was displayed on a 40-foot by 40-foot (12 x 12 m) screen with radar information provided by various 412L sites located throughout Germany. Senior U.S. staff monitored the dynamic display 24/7. Over the next several years, additional 412L sites throughout Germany joined the network until the manual system had been totally replaced.  By 1984, the Kindsbach Cave had become too small and its cost for renovation too high. The USAFE vacated the facility and on 31 October 1993, control was returned to the German government and the German government returned the facility to the original owner of the land. Today the Kindsbach Cave is private property, through tours of the cave can be arranged. The cave is overgrown by vegetation, trees, and new housing.

Drone war control center.

In April 2015 the Ramstein Air Base was reported by German and international media as an important control center in the drone war staged under the Obama administration against targets in areas like Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia. The German government claimed not to have been informed about this function of the U.S. base.  In a TV and online documentary the German Das Erste channel cited 2014 reports from Norddeutscher Rundfunk, WDR und the Süddeutsche Zeitung that revealed Ramstein to be an important hub in the drone war against terror suspects. New data provided by Edward Snowden affiliate Glenn Greenwald supported these reports with classified documents from inside the U.S. administration, and were also presented in the Citizenfour video documentary.  The revelation of US drone activities from Ramstein were leading to nationwide anti-drone protests under the banner of "Stop Ramstein Air Base".  In 2019 three Yemenis, who have lost their relatives in a 2012 US drone strike, have taken legal action against the German government for aiding the international law breaks of the United States by tolerating these operations from Ramstein. The German Higher Administrative Court in Münster ruled that the German government must take appropriate measures to control whether the US army follows international law at Ramstein Air Base. But the possibilities of Germany to control US activities on their territory are very limited as the United States have the juristriction of Ramstein Air Base.

Illegal arms and munition transports.

In 2015, the Serbian newspaper "Večernje novosti" reported about Ramstein Air Base being used by the United States Armed Forces to transport arms and munitions to Syria. At the end of 2017, an anonymous US official stated that the US does indeed use Ramstein Air Base to supplement Syrian rebels with arms and munition. The Cabinet of Germany stated that it did not grant the necessary permits for these transports, nor that it had been informed about them. The public prosecutor's office of Kaiserslautern is currently auditing whether an official investigation should be launched. However, such investigations are complicated by the fact that despite Ramstein Air Base being located on German territory, German officials and politicians are not allowed to enter the base without permission of the US commander. Previous investigations of the Ramstein Air Base, such as the Abu Omar case, have proven to be unsuccessful as of yet. Should the investigation about the arms and munition transports be successful, it would constitute a violation of the German War Weapons Control Act.

Based units.

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Ramstein Air Base.

United States Air Force.

US Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA)  Air Mobility Command (AMC)

US Army.

US Army Europe (USAREUR)

NATO.

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)

Schools.

There are four schools at Ramstein Air Base: Ramstein Elementary School (Koalas), Ramstein Intermediate School (Jaguars), Ramstein American Middle School (Rams), and Ramstein High School (Royals). All of these schools are run by DoDDS, a component of DoDEA.

Accidents and incidents.

Red Army Faction car bombing, August 31, 1981.

The U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) headquarters became the target of a terrorist attack on August 31, 1981, at 7:21 a.m. carried out by a Red Army Faction commando called 'Sigurd Debus'. A total of 20 victims were injured, some of them seriously.

Ramstein air show disaster, August 28, 1988.

The Ramstein air show disaster was a mid-air collision that occurred at the Ramstein Air Force Base during the Flugtag '88 air show on Sunday, August 28, 1988, killing 70 people.

C-5 crash, August 29, 1990.

On August 29, 1990, a C-5 Galaxy Transport plane carrying U.S servicemen to the Persian Gulf crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 13 people and injuring 4 others.

Environmental scandal.

In 2014 it was revealed that poisonous extinguishing foams (PFCs) were used on Ramstein Air Base and other US airforce bases in the region. These are now contaminating lakes, rivers and the ground water in the region. In one river the contamination was 7700 times higher than the safety limit of the European Union. These contaminations are linked to cancer and birth defects.

Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also for NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM). Ramstein is located near the town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, which stands outside the base's west gate, in the rural district of Kaiserslautern.

Maschinengewehr 08 neboli MG 08 (08 = rok vzniku 1908) je vodou chlazený typ těžkého kulometu ráže 7,92, který používala německá armáda zejména v první světové válce. MG 08 se vyráběl v mnoha variantách, z nichž nejznámější byla MG 08/15. MG 08 zůstaly ve službě i do druhé světové války, hlavně z důvodu nedostatku jeho nástupce, modelu MG34 a vyřazeny byly až v roce 1942.


History.

The history of St. Michael's gate dates back to the end of the 13th century and the first written document about its existence dates to 1411. The fortification in front of the St. Michael's gate was closed off by a drawbridge over a moat. Later it was rebuilt in stone. The entrance was closed by a drawn portcullis along with a wooden door.  During the coronation of 19 Hungarian kings (1563–1830) in Bratislava (Pressburg), (Pozsony), the ruler would enter with his coronation entourage by the way of the Vydrica Gate, get crowned at St. Martin's Cathedral and one of the stops following the coronation during the procession through the town was the stop at St. Michael's Gate, where the new king would pledge his king's oath to the hands of the archbishop.  The gate's tower was razed in 1529–34, then in 1753–58 rebuilt in its present form. It was at this last reconstruction that a statue of St. Michael was placed atop the tower. St. Michael's Tower stands 56 yards (51 m).  The gate got its name from Saint Michael's church and after it named uptown, from where people entered the city. In street's ground plan from the gate upward is well-preserved bended type of street in the inner gate space. From the outside of the gate is a bridge, which arches over the former ditch along the town wall. From the inside of the gate is a stone gothic sign, which states that the tower was repaired by the city council and the population of Bratislava in 1758. Today a marked historical crown path leads through the gate.

Fortification complex.

Michael's Gate was the centerpiece of a larger fortification system which included two rings of city walls, two bastions, a barbican and a falling bridge over the water moat. While the city walls have disappeared in this part of the city, the barbican survives, although partially built into later houses. The falling bridge was later replaced by a wooden one and the brick structure that is today's Michael's Bridge was built in 1727 and it is the oldest bridge in the city. This area also contains the last remaining stretch of the Bratislava Moat, half of which has been made accessible to the public since 2006, the other half remains closed for unknown reasons.  Today, the barbican is partially built into the house on Michalská Street No. 25. It contained windows (holes) facing the moat area, which were visible as late as 1960's, but are completely covered now.

Today.

Today, there is a museum of medieval fortification of Bratislava (Pressburg), (Pozsony), and arms located in the tower. Museum exhibits cover the town's fortification beginnings, reconstructions and their final destruction in the 18th century as the fortified walls were preventing the city's growth. On the sixth floor of the tower there is a balcony that has views of the Old City, the Castle, and surrounding areas.  Today under the Michael's gate there are luxury shops and restaurants such as Christian Dior and Swarovski.

In Bratislava, Slovakia, Michael's Gate is the only city gate that has been preserved of the medieval fortifications and ranks among the oldest town buildings. Built about the year 1300, its present shape is the result of baroque reconstructions in 1758, when the statue of St. Michael and the Dragon was placed on its top. The tower houses the Exhibition of Weapons of Bratislava City Museum.

Michalská brána je bývalá brána bratislavského městského opevnění nacházející se na Starém Městě. Je též jediným zbytkem tohoto původního opevnění.