From 1951 to 1966 the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

deployed thousands of personnel and hundreds of combat aircraft to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

to counter the buildup of the

Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. The Cold War escalated into the attempted seizure of

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

during 1948. This convinced the western nations to form a common defense organization. Discussions led to the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. NATO's defense strategy came to incorporate land, sea, and air forces. Due to the vulnerability of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

to Soviet attack, USAF planners did not want any new tactical air units moved into the U.S. Zone of Occupation there. By 1950, the

United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

(USAFE) wanted all tactical air units to be located west of the

Rhine River ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

to provide greater air defense warning time. France agreed to provide air base sites. Between 1950 and 1967 the

operated 11 major air bases in

. There were other communications sites,

NATO Dispersed Operating Bases NATO Dispersed Operating Bases (DOBs) 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 Dispersal tactics and protect ...

, Sub-Depots and minor facilities at several French Airports, such as

Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly ...

and

Marseille Provence Airport Marseille Provence Airport () is an international airport located 27 km (17 miles) northwest of Marseille, on the territory of Marignane, both ''communes'' of the Bouches-du-Rhône ''département'' in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur '' r� ...

. The

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

also established a significant presence in France, and was responsible for much air base construction and maintenance. F-100d-54-2222-wc-48tfw-chm-1957

France was a founding member of NATO which came into existence on 24th August 1949. The first non French NATO tenant in France was the 1630th Air Base Squadron of the USAF Military Air Transport Service, 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 Air Depot. After 15 years of U.S. Air Force presence, French President Charles de Gaulle decided to evict non French NATO forces from France. On 7 March 1966, he announced that France would withdraw from NATO's integrated military structure. He gave foreign NATO forces one year to depart France. Prior to this he refused to store nuclear weapons from other countries on French soil. The State Department, the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

, 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.Jerry McAuliffe
The USAF in France 1950-1967
/ref> Due to the U.S. media focus on the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, the removal of foreign, mainly US, 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. The last USAFE activities were the 1630th Air Base Squadron at Orly Airport and the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Administration Office. Both were closed in June 1967. On 23 October 1967, all foreign flags were furled and after 17 years the last foreign 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.

References

Further reading