page_title: Évreux-Fauville Air Base
section_title: 465th Troop Carrier Wing
hierarchical_section_title: Évreux-Fauville Air Base / Origins / 465th Troop Carrier Wing
caption_attribution_description: C-119C Serial 51-2640 781st Troop Carrier Squadron / 465th Troop Carrier Wing
context_page_description: Évreux-Fauville Air Base is a French Air Force base located about 2 miles east of the town of Évreux in the Eure département, on the north side of the Route nationale 13 Highway.
  During the Cold War, Évreux-Fauville was a front-line base for the United States Air Forces in Europe as part of NATO's Allied Forces Central Europe.
  In 1967, the US forces withdrew and the French air force began again using the base, initially flying the Nord 2501 Noratlas. At present, the base is home of two French tactical transport squadrons flying mostly Transall C-160 transportation planes.
context_section_description: The first USAF occupant of Évreux Air Base was the 465th Troop Carrier Wing, being deployed to Évreux in May 1955. The base was still in the middle of being constructed, however minimal facilities were available to accommodate the unit. The 465th flew the C-119 "Flying Boxcar" and consisted of 54 aircraft being assigned to the 780th, 781st and 782nd Troop Carrier Squadrons.
  The 780th and 781st TCS received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in 1956 for extraordinary operations. The Wing airlifted United Nations troops, supplies and equipment to the Middle East and flew Red Cross emergency supplies to Hungarian refugees, along with completing their scheduled training missions.
  During early 1957 the Lockheed C-130 was entering the USAF inventory and with its increased range and capacity, the C-119s began to be phased out. Also when the U.S. Army projected a decrease of airborne units in Europe, so the need for troop practice drops would decline. It was determined that the 465th would be phased down and inactivated.
  The 465th TCW was reorganized on 12 March 1957 when its group headquarters was inactivated and the wing deputy commander for operations took over command of the troop carrier squadrons. At this time, manpower shortages were keeping staffing at about 70 to 80 percent of authorized levels and the reorganization elimitatd about 50 personnel slots.
  In July, 465th Wing Headquarters and all support squadrons were inactivated. Personnel were transferred from the support squadrons into various wing vacancies, transferred to other USAFE bases or returned to the United States (CONUS). By this time, the 465th along with the 317th TCW shared Évreux, with a total of six flying squadrons.
  The end of the 465th came on 8 July when it was inactivated and the 780th and 781st squadrons came under the command of the 317th TCW. At this time, the two squadrons were directed to prepare their C-119s for return to Air Force Reserve troop carrier wings in CONUS. By December, 37 C-119s departed. On 20 December the 782d squadron was inactivated. On 6 January 1958, all the C-119s of the 317th TCW were transferred on paper to the 780th and 781st squadrons and they flew the aircraft back to CONUS.
  On 8 March 1958 they were also inactivated, ending the last remnant of the 465th Troop Carrier Wing's presence at Évreux.
  In March 1958 the C-119Gs of the three squadrons were returned to CONUS, and the squadrons were inactivated.
caption: Fairchild C-119C-26-FA Flying Boxcar Serial 51-2640 781st Troop Carrier Squadron, 1954
exif: {}