United States Air Force In France
Encyclopedia
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
deployed thousands of personnel and hundreds of combat aircraft to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to counter the buildup of Soviet forces in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
.
The Cold War that developed in Europe during 1948 and escalated into the attempted seizure of West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, convinced the western nations to form a common defense organization. Discussions led to a multinational defense agreement that evolved into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). A central NATO defense strategy was the use of tactical air power to offset the Soviet Union.
Due to the vulnerability of West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
to Soviet attack, USAF planners did not want any new tactical air units moved into the US "Zone of Occupation" there. By 1950 , the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) wanted all tactical air units to be located west of the Rhine River to provide greater air defense warning time and France agreed to provide air base sites.
Between 1950 and 1967 the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
operated 11 major air bases in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. They were:
- Bordeaux-Mérignac Air BaseBordeaux-Merignac Air BaseBordeaux-Mérignac Air Base is a former United States Air Force base in France. It is located in the Gironde département, 6 miles west of the city of Bordeaux....
- Chambley-Bussières Air BaseChambley-Bussieres Air BaseChambley-Bussières Air Base is a former United States Air Force base in France. It is located in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département of France, about ten miles west of the French city of Metz, and about one mile southwest of Chambley-Bussières, on the south side of the Départemental 901 ...
- Châteauroux-Déols Air BaseChâteauroux-Déols Air BaseChâteauroux-Déols Air Base is a former United States Air Force base in France. It is located in the Indre département of France, located about 3 miles northeast of Châteauroux and about 1 mile northeast of Déols on the east side of the Départemental 920 road in Central France.During the Cold...
- Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base
- Dreux-Louvilliers Air Base
- Étain-Rouvres Air BaseEtain-Rouvres Air BaseÉtain - Rouvres Air Base is a former USAF base in France. It is located on the Lorraine Plateau in northeastern France, 1 mile to the west of Étain; on the west side of the Départemental 906 road, adjacent to the village of Rouvres-en-Woevre in the Meuse département about 12 miles east of...
- Évreux-Fauville Air BaseEvreux-Fauville Air BaseÉvreux-Fauville Air Base is a French Air Force base located about 2 miles east of the town of Évreux in the Eure département, on the north side of the Route nationale 13 Highway....
- Laon-Couvron Air BaseLaon-Couvron Air BaseLaon-Couvron Air Base is a former French and United States Air Force base in France. It is located in the Aisne département of France, less than one mile southeast of the village of Couvron and 6 miles northwest of Laon; on the southwest side of the Autoroute des Anglais 1 Mile east of the...
- Paris-Orly Air BaseOrly Air BaseOrly Air Base was located at Aeroport de Paris-Orly, nine miles south of Paris, France off Autoroute A6/A10m with a highway exit directly into the base....
- Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air BasePhalsbourg-Bourscheid Air BasePhalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base is a former United States Air Force base in France. It is located in the Moselle département, about 2 miles west of the town of Phalsbourg, on the north side of the Route nationale 4 Highway adjacent to the village Saint-Jean-Kourtzerode; 29 miles northwest of...
- Toul-Rosières Air BaseToul-Rosieres Air BaseToul-Rosières Air Base is a reserve French Air Force base. It is located in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département of France, 10 miles northeast of the city of Toul, on the west side of the Route nationale 411 Highway about one mile southeast of Rosières-en-Haye.Toul Air Base was used by American...
There were other communications sites, NATO Dispersed Operating Bases
NATO Dispersed Operating Bases
NATO Dispersed Operating Bases were developed to improve air power survival when NATO began planning for tactical air bases and aircraft in western Europe during the early Cold War years of the 1950s.- History :...
, Sub-Depots and minor facilities at several French Airports, such as Paris-Orly Airport
Orly Airport
Paris-Orly Airport is an airport located partially in Orly and partially in Villeneuve-le-Roi, south of Paris, France. It has flights to cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, North America and Southeast Asia. Prior to the construction of Charles de Gaulle Airport, Orly was...
and Marseille
Marseille Provence Airport
Marseille Provence Airport or Aéroport de Marseille Provence is an airport located 27 km northwest of Marseille, on the territory of Marignane, both communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône département in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur région of France...
which are not shown on this map. The United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
also established a significant presence in France, and was responsible for much of the construction and maintenance of the Air Bases established there.
The NATO Dispersed Operating Bases
NATO Dispersed Operating Bases
NATO Dispersed Operating Bases were developed to improve air power survival when NATO began planning for tactical air bases and aircraft in western Europe during the early Cold War years of the 1950s.- History :...
was a programme begun in 1953 by USAFE. They were constructed in France and were completed in about two years. Each was built to a standard NATO design of a 7900 feet (2,408 m) runway. Four DOBs were built for USAFE use. They were designed to have the capability to base about 30 aircraft, along with a few permanent buildings serviced with utilities and space for a tent city to house personnel.
The first NATO tenant in France was the USAF Military Air Transport Service (MATS)
Air Mobility Command
Air Mobility Command is a Major Command of the U.S. Air Force. AMC is headquartered at Scott AFB, Illinois, east of St. Louis....
1630th Air Base Squadron, activated in June 1950 at Paris - Orly Air Base. On 28 February 1958 the official name of Orly Air Base was changed to Orly Airport and most MATS flights were routed to Chateauroux-Deols Air Base
Châteauroux-Déols Air Base
Châteauroux-Déols Air Base is a former United States Air Force base in France. It is located in the Indre département of France, located about 3 miles northeast of Châteauroux and about 1 mile northeast of Déols on the east side of the Départemental 920 road in Central France.During the Cold...
.
After 15 years of bad and good times of USAFE basing in France, the end was decided by General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Charles De Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
. On 7 March 1966, he announced that France would withdraw from NATO's integrated military structure but not leave the political organization. He gave NATO forces one year (until 1 April 1967) to depart France.
The State Department, Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
(DOD), and Air Force carefully managed the news about the American departure from France, and the attendant problems of an integrated NATO air defense for western Europe and the decrease in tactical airpower. Fortunately for the State Department and the DOD, the media was focusing on Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, so the removal of NATO forces from France went virtually unreported in the US.
During 1966-67 all USAF offices and facilities in France were closed and personnel and equipment moved to other NATO countries. The last USAFE activities were the 1630th Air Base Squadron at Orly Airport and the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
Administration Office. Both were closed in June 1967. A C-47 variant, the C-117B "Super Skytrain"
C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
Serial 45-2549 departed from Orly on 31 May 1967. That was the last USAF aircraft to depart France.
On 23 October 1967, all foreign flags were furled and after 17 years all NATO forces departed France.
Today most of the old USAF air bases in France are being used by the French military and are not accessible to tourists.