NATO Acquisition
With the outbreak of the Cold War in the late 1940s, with the Berlin Airlift and the ongoing threat from the Soviet Union to Western Europe, negotiations began in November 1950 between NATO and the United States to establish air bases and station combat wings in France to meet European defense needs.
During the negotiations for selection of sites, the World War II airfield at Chaumont was proposed for expansion into a modern air base. The airfield was unused since the war and there were no plans for French civil or military use. An agreement was reached to develop Chaumont into a NATO facility and station United States Air Force tactical fighter-bombers there by 1953.
Read more about this topic: Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base
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