German Air Force Patch 51 AG Reconnaissance RF 4E Phantom 2d

German Air Force Patch Aufkurungsgeschwader AG 51 Reconnaissance Wing RF 4E Phantom Recce d 1980s Bremgarten AB Embroidered on twill merrowed edge 97mm three and three quarter inches diameter.

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History   

Aufkurungsgeschwader AG 51 Reconnaissance Wing 51 was activated on 7 July 1959 at Erding AB equipped RF 84F Thunderflash aircraft and personnel from Waffenschule WS 50 relocating to Manching AB on 5 May 1960 for NATO 4 Allied Tactical Air Force ATAF operations. The Wing was awarded the name Immelmann on 21 April 1961 and used a flying red owl as its emblem. 

The Wing comprised three a Headquarters and Groups Flying Group Technical Group and Aerodrome Group. Flying Group controls the two flying Squadrons of the Wing 511 and 512. Technical Group provided aircraft technical services including maintenance and repair weapons and ammunition survival equipment fuelling fire protection while Aerodrome Group provided non-aeronautical activities and tasks including transportation supplies medical services Aerodrome security and defence runway and airfield repair. 

AG 51 transitioned from the Thunderflash to the RF 104G Starfighter at the end of 1963. AG 51 relocated to Bremgarten in 1969 before starting to reequip with RF 4E Phantom reconnaissance aircraft on 20 January 1971 completing the changeover by mid 1972. AG 51 was inactivated on 17 March 1993. 

Aufkurungsgeschwader AG 51 Reconnaissance Wing 51 was reactivated on 1 January 1994 at Schleswig Jagel AB for tactical reconnaissance equipped with former German Navy MFG 1 Tornado aircraft which had been formed into Air Force Tornado Squadron Jagel. AG 51 retained the name Immelmann but discontinued its traditional flying red owl emblems and instead adopted the Panther unit emblems of the disbanded AG 52 altering the number to 51 thereby gaining membership on the NATO Tiger Association.   

AG 51 carried out daily photo reconnaissance over the Rhine Elbe and their tributaries to monitor flood development and the flow conditions during major flooding in January 1995. The Wing deployed aircraft and personnel to San Damiano AB Italy on 21 July 1995 to support the UN Rapid Reaction Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The AG 51 six ship recce element was joined by eight ECR Tornado aircraft for Jabog 32 and operated as German Air Force Einsatzgeschwader EG 1 Task Force 1. AG 51 continued its participation in operations over the former Yugoslavia with UNPROFOR IFOR SFOR Operation Allied Force and KFOR withdrawing from Italy in 2001. AG 51 hosted the NATO Tiger Meet at Schleswig Jagel in 2004. 

AG 51 added the responsibility of maritime anti shipping operations when German Navy Naval Air Wing 2 was inactivated on 1 January 2005. The Wing deployed aircraft and personnel to Mazar e Sharif Afghanistan in April 2007 to support ISAF operations with a permenat six ship detachment operating as German Air Force Einsatzgeschwader EG Task Force Mazar e Sharif. Flying Squadron 512 Staffel reequipped with IAI Heron unmanned reconnaissance systems operating them in Afghanistan. AG 51 continued its participation in Tornado recce operations over Afghanistan until the detachment was withdrawn on 27 November 2010. 

Reconnaissance Wing 51 Immelmann AG 51 I was redesignated Squadron Taktisches Luftwaffengeschwader 51 Immelmann TaktLwG 51 I Tactical Air Wing 51 I on 1 October 2013 following reorientation of the German Air Force. TaktLwG 51 hosted the NATO Tiger Meet at Schleswig Jagel in 2014. 

This patch dates from the 1980s.