United States Air Force in the United Kingdom
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Since 1941 the United States has maintained air bases in the United Kingdom. Major Commands of the USAF having bases in the United Kingdom were the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), Strategic Air Command (SAC), and Air Mobility Command (AMC).
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[edit] Origins
The origins of the United States Air Force in the UK can be traced to a series of agreements made between 27 January and 27 March 1941 which provided for American naval, ground and air support for campaigns against Nazi Germany. As a result, a special US Army Observer Group was activated in London on 19 May 1941. One of the first tasks of that unit was to reconnoitre areas regarded as potential sites for United States Army Air Force (USAAF} installations.
On 2 January 1942 the order activating the Eighth Air Force was signed and the headquarters was formed at Savannah, Georgia on 28 January. The War Department in Washington, D.C. announced that US ground forces were sent to Northern Ireland. On 8 January the activation of US Forces in the British Isles (USAFBI) was announced, and VIII Bomber Command (VIII BC) was established in England during February 1942. VIII BC was established at RAF Bomber Command Headquarters at High Wycombe on 22 February.
From these origins the presence of the United States Air Force in the United Kingdom has been maintained to current times.
[edit] USSAFE / USAFE
With the end of World War II, the United States began to demobilize most of the Air Force which it created in the United Kingdom. On 7 May 1945 the US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSAFE) commanded about 17,000 aircraft and an organization made up of about 500,000 personnel. Many personnel and much flying equipment were being transferred to the Pacific Theater of Operations.
In Europe the aim was to maintain a small USAAF organization, exclusively for communication and transport purposes. On 7 August 1945, the word Strategic was removed from USSAFE, and the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) was established. By the end of 1946, USAFE comprised of only about 75,000 personnel and less than 2,000 aircraft.
Tensions with the Soviet Union began as early as 1946 and President Harry S. Truman decided to realign USAFE into a combat-capable force. In November six B-29 bombers from SACs 43d Bombardment Group were sent to RAF Burtonwood, and from there to various bases in West Germany as a "training deployment". In May 1947 additional B-29s were sent to the UK and Germany to keep up the presence of a training program. These deployments were only a cover-up, as the true aim of these B-29s were to have a strategic air force permanently stationed in Europe.
All B-29 operations in England were placed under the command of USAFE's 3d Air Force, established at RAF Marham. At the close of World War II, most of the air bases used by the USAAF were returned to the British government and were in various states of repair by 1948. The Ministry of Defense made available airfields at Marham, Scampton, Waddington and Lakenheath for B-29 operations. Lakenheath was refurbished with an extended runway to accommodate the giant Convair B-36, however the B-36s were maintained at Carswell Air Force Base in Texas for the time being.
[edit] Establishment of NATO
By 1948, the Soviet Union's obstinacy concerning Berlin and other issues in Europe had caused great anxiety among the governments of Western Europe. In response, the Western leaders decided to co-operate and jointly defend Western Europe against a Soviet attack. This joining of forces took shape in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) agreement of 4 April 1949 when the ministers of ten Western European countries, the United States and Canada guaranteed each other's safety against Soviet attack and saw an armed attack on the territory of one of the member states an attack on all of them.
During 1950/51 it was decided that the USAF would re-establish a larger presence in the United Kingdom and the refurbishment of several additional World War II airfields would take place. However these bases were far from adequate in their World War II configuration, both in their flying facilities and in their accommodations, so plans were designed for a major expansion to accommodate the new jet aircraft and other operational facilities. On-going construction of flying and the conversion of temporary wartime buildings to permanent facilities continued for some years
[edit] SAC in England
The Soviet Union did not reduce their armed forces after the end of World War II, using the reason that technically they were still at war with Germany, while US forces had demobiled. The US sought an answer to Soviet conventional superiority by the expansion of its tactical nuclear force.
During the late 1940s, Strategic Air Command possessed about 100 North American B-45 Tornado jet bombers, each capable of dropping five fairly small, 2000kg tactical nuclear bombs. In the summer of 1952, the US government decided to station those B-45s in England. Three squadrons were formed in the newly-established 47th Bombardment Wing at RAF Sculthorpe in Norfolk. In addition three squadrons of the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing at RAF Wethersfield in Essex were equipped with the Republic F-84 Thunderjet. These F-84s were specially converted to carry small atomic bombs.
With these squadrons of B-45s and F-84s SAC had a tactical nuclear force at its disposal in Europe. However they were elements of the USAFE organization and were deployed as part of NATO's Tactical Nuclear Capability. Their primary mission was support of ground forces in central Europe. US Strategy was, however, based upon massive retaliation against the Soviet Union. If the Soviets started a war, US war plans called for SAC going into full scale action.
In the early 1950s, SAC's backbone bombers were the Convair B-36 and Boeing B-47 Stratojet. To support this strategy, code named "Trojan", the SAC 7th Air Division was established in May 1951. The 7th used many of the World War II air bases in the UK, with reconstruction efforts commencing on Fairford, Brize Norton, Upper Heyford and Greenham Common. These RAF bases were made suitable for use by the B-36/B-47 by lengthening the take-off and landing runways, building concrete bunkers suitable for nuclear weapons and upgrading the support facilities for long-term use.
By the summer of 1953, the 7th AD began a series of temporary deployments of B-47 and B-36 wings to the UK bases. These deployments generally involved about 45 aircraft, together with about 20 KC-97 Stratotankers which were maintained at the English bases for 90 days. At the end of the Temporary Duty (TDY), they were relieved by another SAC wing that was generally stationed at a different airfield.
These TDYs soon became a heavy burden for SAC and the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), which had to transport thousands of personnel and tons of support materiel to and from the United States in just a few days time every time the Wings rotated.
In 1958, it was decided that these TDY postings would be replaced by a new system of overseas deployments called "Reflex". From then on, rather than a complete wing being stationed for 90 days only, 20 aircraft from four different wings were stationed in England at any given time. During their three-week Reflex deployment each aircraft was on full alert for instant takeoff with a full nuclear load for exactly one week.
By the early 1960s, with the development of ICBMs and submarine-based SLBMs, SAC's reliance on strategic bombers was reduced. Although Reflex deployments continued into the mid-1960's, the presence of US strategic bombers in the UK was gradually reduced, with the UK bases being returned to the British or converted into USAFE tactical bases.
[edit] Modernization
By the early 1960's, the USAF in England had a very mixed collection of aircraft. RF-101s, various versions of the B-66 and B-57, and F-84's and F-86s comprised USAFE's tactical aircraft arsenal. This large number of different aircraft was a maintenance and logistics nightmare because all the different parts for all the different aircraft had to be kept in stock. Indeed, this issue was not confined to the UK or just USAFE. There was a need for standardization and also to modernize for an aircraft which could perform many different tasks from air defense to ground support and aerial reconnaissance. The McDonnell F-4 Phantom II was that aircraft.
On 12 May 1965 the first F-4 Phantom arrived in the UK, with an RF-4C arriving at RAF Alconbury to replace the 10th TRW's RB-66s. In October, the F-101C "Voodos" at Bentwaters/Woodbridge were also replaced by F-4Cs, as well as the F-100s at RAF Lakenheath.
The F-4 Phantoms remained in the UK for the next 20 years, being replaced by the next generation of F-15/F-16s in the mid 1980s. In the 1970s, the General Dynamics F-111 arrived at Upper Heyford.
[edit] Operation "FRELOC"
On 21 February 1966, French President Charles de Gaulle announced that France would loosen its ties to NATO. He announced that French forces were no longer available to the Allies, and all foreign army and air force unites, as well as NATO Headquarters must be removed from France by 1 April 1967.
Losing the French bases was a painful blow to USAFE. At the time it comprised eleven tactical units plus four interceptor squadrons. A large-scale relocation plan, Operation FRELOC was developed to remove all USAF aircraft and equipment, as well as 33,000 USAFE personnel and their families from France.
As a result of FRELOC, USAFE's presence in England grew considerably. Three fighter wings, the 20th TFW at RAF Wethersfield, the 48th TFW at RAF Lakenheath and the 81st TFW at RAF Bentwaters came under 3d Air Force. Between these three wings, about 225 aircraft, mainly F-100 and F-4 Phantom IIs. USAFE in England also included two Tactical Reconnaissance Wings, the 10th at RAF Alconbury and the 66th at RAF Upper Heyford with between them about 100 RF-101s and RF-4Cs, along with the 513th Troop Carrier Wing at RAF Mildenhall.
Also, RAF Burtonwood, which was operating as a reserve USAFE base since the opening of Châteauroux-Déols Air Base in the early 1950's was turned over to the US Army in 1966 and was renamed Burtonwood Army Depot. The Army transferred all of its stores and equipment in France to Burtonwood and operated the facility as its primary storage and logistics depot for 7th Army support in Europe until the mid 1990s.
[edit] Air Transport/Special Operations
Although most USAF bases in the UK had tactical or strategic combat missions, in 1966, Military Air Transport Service established a permanent facility at RAF Mildenhall after the phaseout of the SAC Reflex mission. The 315th Military Airlift Wing operates C-5 Galaxy and C-141 Starlifter flights to and from the UK from bases worldwide. The group also operates Lockheed C-130 Hercules flights within USAFE from TDY units on a rotational bases from the US.
In addition to the logistics mission, the 513th MAW was responsible for operations of four Boeing EC-135H "Looking Glass" Flying Command Posts of the 10th Airborne Command And Control Squadron, which would have been responsible for SAC command and control in the event of a Nuclear War with the Soviet Union. In addition for many years variants of Boeing RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft were observed regularly at Mildenhall. Most of those aircraft came from the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Offut AFB, Nebraska. Those aircraft were used to fly ELINT and COMINT missions along the borders of Poland, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, monitoring and recording military communications.
Also at Mildenhall, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbirds from the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, California were deployed on a routine basis. Besides standard photo reconnaissance flights, the SR-71s at Mildenhall were involved in ELINT and TELINT missions that were carried out within the framework of the SALT I Agreement of 1972. Under this agreement, the U.S. and Soviet Union reached agreement on a partial freeze on the number of nuclear weapons and these flights were to verify that the Soviets were adhering to the agreement.
Telemetry gathering missions were also flown by the SR-71s to record data from Soviet rocket systems. Electronic gathering flights were primarily aimed at gathering signals from the Soviet missile center at Plesetsk. This information, along with information being gathered from spy satellites, enabled the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to assemble a good picture of Soviet activities. SR-71s at Mildenhall also played a key role in the 1986 Operation El Dorado Canyon involving American retaliatory action in Libya. The day after the attack, SR-71s made several unmolested flights over the bombed military targets around Tripoli and Benghazi.
[edit] Close Air Support
In 1978 the first of about 120 A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft arrived at RAF Bentwaters/Woodbrige. Originally six squadrons were assigned to the 81st TFW, however later two squadrons were moved to the 10th TFW at RAF Alconbury. Close Air Support missions made the A-10 vulnerable to ground fire, so most of the underside of the aircraft is made of armoured titanium. To stay out of reach of hostile radar, many of the A-10's missions were flown at nearly ground level. The A-10s in the UK were painted in a special camouflage scheme designed for European weather conditions, made from a special type of paint that can absorb 60% of the suns's rays. Because different densities of paint were used, its colors tended to change in different light conditions.
[edit] Post Cold War Drawdown
With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the need for large numbers of USAF forces in the UK no longer existed and plans were made for significant cuts.
Bases at Bentwaters, Chicksands, Greenham Common, Sculthorpe and Upper Heyford were closed by the end of 1993. Alconbury's flightline was closed, and its base support functions were taken over by RAF Molesworth. Consolidations were made both at Lakenheath and Mildenhall, leaving them the only two fully-equipped USAFE bases in the UK.
[edit] USAF Bases in the United Kingdom
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Notes: *** Denotes Inactive Operating Base.
AFCC = Air Force Communications Command
AFSS = Air Force Space Command
USAFSS = Air Force Security Service
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Endicott, Judy G., USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Office of Air Force History
- Fletcher, Harry R., Air Force Bases Volume II, Active Air Force Bases outside the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989
- Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, 1983
- Ravenstein, Charles A., Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977, Office of Air Force History, 1984
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United States Air Force in the United Kingdom
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| ACTIVE BASES: | RAF Alconbury (USAFE) • RAF Croughton (USAFE) • RAF Fairford (USAFE) • RAF Feltwell (USAFE) • RAF Lakenheath (SAC/USAFE) • RAF Menwith Hill (USAFE) • RAF Mildenhall (SAC/USAFE/AMC) • RAF Molesworth (SAC/USAFE) • RAF Upwood (USAFE) • RAF Welford (USAFE) |
| INACTIVE BASES: | RAF Bentwaters (USAFE) • RAF Burtonwood (AFMC) • RAF Chelveston (SAC/USAFE) • RAF Chicksands (USAFSS) • RAF Greenham Common (SAC/USAFE) • RAF Manston (USAFE) • RAF Sculthorpe (SAC) • RAF Shepherds Grove (USAFE) • RAF Upper Heyford (SAC/USAFE) • RAF Wethersfield (USAFE) • RAF Woodbridge (USAFE) |
| ACTIVE ORGANIZATIONS: | United States Air Forces in Europe • HQ Air Command Europe • 48th Fighter Wing (USAFE) • 100th Air Refueling Wing (USAFE) • 501st Combat Support Wing (USAFE) |
| PAST ORGANIZATIONS: | Third Air Force • Sixteenth Air Force |
