Chambley-Bussieres Air Base

Chambley-Bussières Air Base Chambley-Bussières (LF-52) Aéroport Militaire
Part of United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) French Air Force
Located near: Chambley-Bussières, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France
Chambley-Bussières - 2003
Chambley AB Location of Chambley-Bussières AB, France
Coordinates	49°01′24″N 005°52′37″E / 49.02333°N 5.87694°E / 49.02333; 5.87694 (Chambley-Bussières AB)Coordinates: 49°01′24″N 005°52′37″E / 49.02333°N 5.87694°E / 49.02333; 5.87694 (Chambley-Bussières AB)
Site history
Built	1952
In use	1954-Present

Chambley-Bussières Air Base is a former United States Air Force base in France. It is located in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département of France, about ten miles west of the French city of Metz, and about one mile (1.6 km) southwest of Chambley-Bussières, on the south side of the Départemental 901 (D901) (Meurthe-et-Moselle) road.

The first use of Chambley-Bussières as an airfield was in 1940, when the French Air Force stationed 9 Potez 631 fighters and 5 Mureaux 117 observation aircraft on farmland. The aircraft were assigned to the GAO 2/506. After the Battle of France ended in May, 1940, Chambley-Bussieres was abandoned as an air base and returned to agricultural use. During the Cold War, Chambley-Bussières was a front-line base for the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE).

In 1951 as a result of the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union, Chambley-Bussières was provided for use by the United States Air Force. Construction of the base on former farmland started in 1952, although construction delays prevented the facility from being ready for wing operations until mid-1955.

On 30 January 1953 during the initial construction period, the 73rd Air Depot Wing at Châteauroux-Déols Air Base sent a small team to establish Flight A, 73rd Support Group Depot, Chambley. This flight was sent to receive, store and issue USAF supplies as needed by Air Force personnel and French contractors. This team lived near the main train station in Metz on the local economy and insured at least one USAF airman was always present on the new base to provide site security.

The design of the airfield was to space parked aircraft as far apart as possible by the construction of a circular marguerite system of hardstands that could be revetted later with earth for added protection. Typically the marguerite consisted of fifteen to eighteen hardstands around a large central hangar. Each hardstand held one or two aircraft, and allowed the planes to be spaced approximately 150 feet (50 m) apart. Each squadron was assigned to a separate hangar/hardstand complex. This construction can be seen clearly in the satellite image link at the bottom of this article.