On 13 January 1999, one of the unit's KC-135Es crashed at Geilenkirchen Air Base, Germany, killing all four crew members.
A Canadian component of the NATO Airborne Early Warning Force is also based at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen near Geilenkirchen, Germany.
British Crocodiles supported the U.S. Army in the Normandy bocage, at the Battle for Brest, and during Operation Clipper, the Anglo-American assault on Geilenkirchen.
Surrounded by farmland and a natural woodland reserve, the base was originally built by the Royal Air Force after World War II and operated as RAF Geilenkirchen from 1953 onwards.
During the Second World War, Operation Clipper was an Allied offensive by British XXX Corps (which included the U.S. 84th Infantry Division) to reduce the Geilenkirchen salient in mid-November 1944.
In November 1983, the airfield was customized to handle the NATO E-3A AWACS which routinely visits from Geilenkirchen to sustain the surveillance chain at the NATO border.
These German Catholics were fleeing the Gangelt, Geilenkirchen district of Germany to avoid religious persecution and military impressments.
The German defenders consisted of the bulk of 176th Division, northwest of Geilenkirchen and the 183rd Volksgrenadier Division, in the town and southeast of it.