Grew up near there aged 7 to 18. Great memories of the following eras:
- early 1960s: SAC standby base: with a regular 4 x KC-135 Det and an occasional EB-47E.
- 1966-1968: 66 TRW with the RF-101C Voodoo (came from France).
- 1970 onwards: 20 TFW moved in from RAF Wethersfield initially with the F-100D/F and in September 1970 received the first F-111E - I was riding home on the school bus when the first 2 broke into the circuit on arrival - they looked so advanced (and large) compared to any other tactical fighter at the time.
- 20 TFW built up to 3 x 24-aircraft F-111E sqns and, from 1983, an EF-111A sqn was added.
- Most weekends, it was not uncommon for 4-20 x F-4 and/or F-104G to visit providing endless J-79 noise entertainment on landing, take-off or in the circuit.
- Det 2 of 40 ARRW operated 2 x HH-43B/F Huskie in the firefighting & crash/rescue role and were often flying in the area to / from RAF Croughton.
- The F-111E maintained nuclear QRA.
- Eventually the base acquired all the trappings of a NATO hardened base with WOC, AWOC, SOFs, HASs, HBFIs, HPSs, HESs and conventional weapons igloos augmenting the original SAC SSA and conventional ESA. It was one of the first NATO MOBs to get a Hardened Avionics Centre.
- Great air shows most years too with attendees from many NATO air forces.
Such a shame to see it all go !
For anyone who is interested, here is a website maintained by former serving USAF personnel who have fond memories of their time there - lots of great photos encapsulating life on the front-line during the Cold War era:
RAF Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England.
The place was a great inspiration to me as a kid - a few years later, I was living the dream at some of the nearest equivalents (ie latest jet + HASs) the RAF could offer (albeit on a much smaller scale) at Laarbruch then Wildenrath.