Thinking back a few years, look at what's no longer around:
Wattisham: 40+ Phantoms
Honington: 40 Tornado
Coltishall: 45+ Jaguars
Bentwaters / Woodbridge: 100 A10
Upper Heyford: 75 F-111
Alconbury: 20 A10, 12 TR-1, 12 F5/F16 Agressors
St Mawgan: 12 Nimrod
Wittering: 24 Harriers
Cottesmore: 45(?) Tornado TTTE
Leeming: 30 Tornado F3
That's well over 400 aircraft, not counting the training stuff we used to have.
Looking into USAF Europe:
Hahn: 75 F16
Bitburg: 75 F15
Ramstein: 75 F16
Torrejon: 75 F16
Zweibrucken: 24 RF 4
Sembach: 30 OV10
There's another 350 +/-, before you even consider the canadian CF188 wing at Baden-Sollingen, and the number of aircraft our NATO allies have scrapped. I think, as a conservative estimate, there are close to 1,000 less military aircraft in what used to NATO / USAFE, compared to the watershed of the 1980's.
With that, and the change in tactics, and the budghet cuts, it's no real surprise things are quieter. The real question is, I suppose, are we that much safer today, than then?
