as ruined yet evocative reminders of what was once his home away from home. United States Air Force use With the Korean War and the growing threat of the Soviet Union, the US and UK agreed to an expanded US military presence in the United Kingdom. On 1 December 1952, Chelveston returned to American control. Strategic Air Command In 1952, RAF Chelveston was allocated to the United States Air Force. The USAF planned to use Chelveston as an advanced "Reflex" base for forward deployment of the new Boeing B-47 Stratojet medium range nuclear bomber. Strategic Air Command wanted to disperse its nuclear bomber force and have about half of its B-47s stationed at forward bases in Western Europe and North Africa. Because the borders of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact controlled areas were within the range of the B-47, the "Reflex" deployments would base the bombers for 90-day rotations of crews and aircraft. United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), however, managed the initial reconstruction of the airfield, through the 7503d Air Services Wing. The base was reconstructed, and a completely new jet runway (11,000') was constructed on the airfield to accommodate intercontinental bombers. Wartime buildings in disrepair were replaced with new facilities. Starting in November 1955 Chelveston was transferred to the SAC 7530th Air Base Squadron, 7th Air Division as a standby facility. The Boeing B-47 Stratojet was a familiar sight at Chelveston as wings deployed on 90-day rotations. Two of the SAC B-47 Wings which deployed to Chelveston were the 301st Bombardment Wing from Lockbourne AFB, Ohio, and the 305th Bombardment Wing from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, direct descendants of the two Second World War B-17 Bombardment groups assigned to the airfield. In 1958, the church of St James in Thrapston received the pews which had previously been installed in the Chelveston chapel. United States Air Forces in Europe Following French President General de Gaulle's requirement for all foreign nuclear forces to leave France, there was a major readjustment of USAF deployments in Western Europe, and the B-47 deployments ended. On 1 September 1959, jurisdiction of Chelveston was transferred from SAC to USAFE. Control of the base was assigned to the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at RAF Alconbury, which had been moved from West Germany to England. The 10th TRW could not accommodate all four squadrons of the wing at Alconbury, so one was based at