On the 10 May 1955, the 7406th Support Squadron was formally activated. The squadron was placed under the operational control of the 7499th Support Group, Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany, and attached to the 60th Troop Carrier Wing, Rhein/Main Air Base, Germany, for logistical support. The squadron was assigned facilities in the “Hutment” area at Rhein/Main Air Base. Captain William P. Fisher, USAF, was assigned as first Commanding Officer.

Captain Fisher had one airman present for duty. On 17 June 1955, the first shipment of office equipment arrived and squadron headquarters operations were set up in building T-314.

Facilities at Rhein/Main
The airport at Frankfurt has two main runways 07L/25R & 07R/25L. The north side of the runways was used by the City of Frankfurt and was called “Frankfurt International Airport”. The south side of the runways was used by the U.S. Air Force and was called “Rhein/Main Air Base”, “The Gateway to Europe”.

The control tower, fire station, TDY acft etc. were at the midpoint of the runway, across from the main gate to the air base. Running east-west from the control tower was the frontage road. At the end of this frontage road were the maintenance facilities and flight operations center for the 7406th Support Squadron. At first, access to the flight line was guarded by armed 7406th personnel. This “guard duty” was dropped in 1958.
Next, (east) of the 7406th facilities were the 7407th Support Squadron facilities. In early 1960 the flight operations buildings were rebuilt and reoccupied in July. The 7406th flight engineer/scanner lounge and the security office were installed in part of the 7407th building.  All of the buildings, except the nose dock, were built of wood, large 4X8 panels and a low roof line. The buildings had a prefab look. The flight officers lounge was a small building in front of ops (it use to be a garage for ground equipment). The new ops building had a large conference room with a stage and sliding wall maps. The maintenance building was a large U shaped affair with a new nose dock built just south of it. The nose dock was built of steel. Prior to 1960 all aircraft maintenance had to be done on the ramp.

The barracks were about ¼ mile south of the flight line. It was a large two story U shaped building with a basement. This was a former WWII Luftwaffe barracks. This building was built of cinderblocks & stucco with a tile roof. The building had four large open bays on the first & second floors, with supply and small rooms in the basement. The 7406th & 7407th shared this building. There were no U.S. Army facilities at Rhein/Main, so in 1969 the Army enlisted men (back-enders for the Caribou) shared the building with the 7406th. The 7407th was disbanded in 1968, and the 7406th expanded into its facilities.

In early 1972, after the changeover from the 7499th Support Group to the 322nd Tactical Airlift Wing and the transition from the C-130A to the C-130B the physical location of the squadron was moved from Building 438 to Building 69. The chow hall was across the street next to the parking lot (west side). The Rocket Club (lower four enlisted club) was about two blocks to the east. After the close of the 7406th Squadron in 1974 the 7405th Squadron, in 1975 moved to Rhein/Main AB. In October 2005 the US formally returned Rhein/Main Air Base to the German government. On December 31, 2005 USAF Brig. Gen. Mike Snodgrass gave the keys to Rhein/Main Air Base to the operator of Frankfurt International Airport. The 120 buildings on the base are to be bulldozed to make way for a third terminal for Frankfurt International Airport.