the ground and be unable to attack the heavy bombers. Also the P-51 Mustang fighter-escort groups of Eighth Air Force would drop down on their return to England and attack the base with a fighter sweep and attack any target of opportunity to be found at the airfield. American wartime use In August 1944, the Laon area was liberated by the Third Army and Laon-Couvron was captured about 7 September. The airfield was repaired by the IX Engineering Command, 820th Engineer Aviation Battalion, and declared operationally ready for combat on 10 September. Under American control it was designated as Advanced Landing Ground "A-70 Laon-Couvron". Ninth Air Force assigned the 50th Fighter Group, based P-47 Thunderbolt fighters to the airfield on 15 September, remaining until 28 September. The fighter planes flew support missions during the Allied invasion of France, patrolling roads, strafing German military vehicles, and dropping bombs on gun emplacements, anti-aircraft artillery and concentrations of German troops when spotted. Afterwards, the A-26 Invader-equipped 409th Bombardment Group, arrived in February 1945, remaining until June when the base was closed. After the end of the Second World War, Laon Air Base was returned to the French on 23 October 1945 and the facility was unused for several years, the land being leased by the French Air Ministry to farmers for agricultural use. U.S. acquisition and use With the outbreak of the Cold War in the late 1940s and the Berlin Airlift and the ongoing threat from the Soviet Union to Western Europe, the Soviet threat appeared to be growing. Thus negotiations began in November 1950 between NATO and the United States to station combat forces in France to meet European defense needs. During the site selection negotiations, Laon-Couvron was initially proposed by the USAF to become a Light Bomber air base, and also an Air Division Headquarters base. Also, the USAF had historically used the base, and it was presently unused. An agreement was reached with the French Air Ministry in early 1951 for the Americans to return to Laon-Couvron and redevelop the base, and that a USAF light bomber wing would be stationed there as soon as possible. On 15 June 1951 construction began to upgrade the wartime facilities to NATO standards. When USAF engineers arrived they found the base much as the USAAF had left it in 1945, with wrecked hangars and support facilities full of garbage and vermin after