page_title: RAF Manston
section_title: USAF use
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Manston / History / USAF use
caption_attribution_description: English: Republic F-84E-1-RE Thunderjet 49-2066. Aircraft was flown to RAF Manston, England in July 1951 by the 12th Fighter-Escort Wing. Was later flown by the 123d Fighter-Bomber Group and lastly 406th Fighter-Bomber Wing at Manston. Was then retired and sent to MASDC in Nov 1958
context_page_description: Royal Air Force Manston or more simply RAF Manston is a former Royal Air Force station located in the north-east of Kent, at grid reference TR334663 on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. The site was split between a commercial airport Kent International Airport, since closed, and a continuing military use by the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre, following on from a long-standing training facility for RAF firefighters at the RAF Manston base. In March 2017, RAF Manston became the HQ for the 3rd Battalion, Princess of Wales Royal Regiment.
context_section_description: During the Cold War of the 1950s the United States Air Force used RAF Manston as a Strategic Air Command base for its bomber, fighter and fighter-bomber units.
  In the early 1950s, SAC's backbone bombers were the Convair B-36 and Boeing B-47 Stratojet.  To support this strategy, the SAC 7th Air Division was established in May 1951. At the time, Manston  had only partially recovered from the ravages of the Second World War. There were still makeshift bomb shelters, i.e. trenches with tin roofs, and many large circles of lush green grass where Luftwaffe bombs had cratered the runway. The RAF control tower overlooked a bizarre hilltop runway, which was an extraordinary 750 feet (230 m) wide and 9,000 feet (2,700 m) long. The 7th AD expanded Manston by building concrete bunkers suitable for nuclear weapons and upgrading the support facilities for long-term use.
  By the summer of 1953, the 7th AD began a series of temporary deployments of B-47 and B-36 wings from the United States to the United Kingdom.  These deployments generally involved about 45 aircraft, together with about 20 KC-97 Stratofreighters which were maintained at the English bases for 90 days. At the end of the Temporary Duty (TDY), they were relieved by another SAC wing that was generally stationed at a different airfield. These deployments continued until 1955 when SAC shifted its rotational deployments to RAF Fairford and Manston was turned over to the United States Air Forces in Europe.
  In July 1951 SAC deployed the 12th Fighter-Escort Wing to Manston to provide fighter escort for its rotational bombardment wings.  The 12th, however, only remained at Manston until 30 November when it was replaced by the 123d Fighter-Bomber Wing, with the 12th being transferred to Japan for combat duty during the Korean War.
  The 123d was an umbrella wing that was formed from several Air National Guard squadrons activated for federal service during the Korean War. This wing was activated at Manston with three ANG fighter squadrons:
  156th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (North Carolina ANG)
  165th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (Kentucky ANG)
  167th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (West Virginia ANG)
  The 123d utilized the F-84E "Thunderjets" left behind by the 12th FEW and continued the same mission of fighter escort of SAC's bombers.
  In July 1952 the Air National Guard squadrons were returned to State control, and USAFE assumed the fighter escort role. In its place, the 406th Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated in place at Manston with the following squadrons assigned:
  512th Fighter-Bomber Squadron  (Yellow Stripe)
  513th Fighter-Bomber Squadron  (Red Stripe)
  514th Fighter-Bomber Squadron  (Dark Blue Stripe)
  Initially, the 406th utilized the existing F-84Es, however in August 1953, the F-86F "Sabre" began to arrive to replace them.
  A change of mission for the 406th in April 1954 from fighter-bomber to fighter-interceptor came with a change of equipment. The F-86D Sabre interceptor began to arrive and the F-86F's were transferred to other USAFE squadrons and NATO countries. In addition, the 512th FBS was transferred to Soesterberg Air Base, Netherlands with their F-86Fs.
  In June F-86D's arrived from CONUS to equip the 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron which was transferred to the 406th from the 81st FBW assigned to RAF Shepherds Grove.  The 87th FIS, however, physically remained at Shepherds Grove, but was under the organisational command of the 406th at Manston.  In September 1955, the 87th was redesignated the 512th FIS.
  On 15 May 1958 the 406th was inactivated, with its three air defence squadrons being assigned to continental Europe under the 86th Air Division (Defense) at Ramstein Air Base West Germany. The squadrons were transferred to the following bases:
  512th FIS to Sembach Air Base, West Germany
  513th FIS to Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base France
  514th FIS to Ramstein Air Base, West Germany
  The F-86D's were eventually withdrawn from Europe in 1961, and the 512th, 513th and 514th were inactivated.
  After the transfer of the USAFE interceptors at Manston the base was returned to the RAF control.
caption: Republic F-84E-1-RE Thunderjets of the 512th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. AF Ser. No. 49-2066 is in the foreground.
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