Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base

Quartier La Horie Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base
Part of Armée de Terre United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE)
Located near: Phalsbourg, Moselle, France
Phalsbourg Air Base - 1956
Phalsbourg AB Location of Quartier La Horie, France
Coordinates	48°45′57″N 007°12′10″E / 48.76583°N 7.20278°E / 48.76583; 7.20278 (Phalsbourg-Bourscheid AB)Coordinates: 48°45′57″N 007°12′10″E / 48.76583°N 7.20278°E / 48.76583; 7.20278 (Phalsbourg-Bourscheid AB)
Site information
Controlled by	Armée de Terre
Site history
Built	1952
In use	1955-Present
Garrison information
Garrison	1er Régiment d'Hélicoptères de Combat (1e RHC)

Quartier La Horie is a French Army base. It is located in the Moselle département, about 2 miles(3 km) west of the town of Phalsbourg, on the north side of the Route nationale 4 (N4) Highway adjacent to the village Saint-Jean-Kourtzerode; 29 miles (47 km) northwest of Strasbourg.

During the Cold War, Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base was a front-line base for the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE).

Prior to 1950, there were no existing airfields in the Phalsbourg area. With the advent of the Cold War in the late 1940s and the formation of NATO, agreements were made to expand the United States military presence in western Europe. The United States would also provide some of the tactical air power. This led to the expansion of the United States Air Forces in Europe. The United States would eventually base combat aircraft and personnel in Belgium, England, France, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and West Germany.

In 1950, U.S. representatives began a series of discussions with the French to select air bases and negotiate the details of establishing a large USAF presence. USAFE desired an air field in Alsace or Lorraine due to their eastern location near the Rhine River, but at the time, there were no existing airfields that could meet NATO requirements. The agreed airfield site was west of the city of Phalsbourg, adjacent to French National Route N4 on gently rolling farmland.

The USAF wanted to base a fighter wing at Phalsbourg by 1955. In February 1952 the 7040th Air Base Squadron was activated to administer the base and provide coordination for the various construction activities. Highway N4 was moved a half-mile to the south, and by the summer of 1952, work began on the site preparation of the base.