page_title: RAF Lakenheath
section_title: Strategic Air Command
hierarchical_section_title: RAF Lakenheath / History / Cold War (1946–1990) / Strategic Air Command
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-97L Stratofreighter (s/n 52-2630) RAF Mildenhall. This aircraft is today on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
context_page_description: Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, 4.7 miles north-east of Mildenhall and 8.3 miles west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon.
  Despite being an RAF station, Lakenheath currently only hosts United States Air Force units and personnel. The host wing is the 48th Fighter Wing, also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa.
context_section_description: In response to the threat by the Soviet Union, by the 1948 Berlin blockade, President Truman decided to realign United States Air Force Europe (USAFE) into a permanent combat-capable force. In July, B-29 Superfortresses of the SAC 2nd Bombardment Group were deployed to Lakenheath for a 90-day temporary deployment.
  On 27 November 1948, operational control of RAF Lakenheath was transferred from the Royal Air Force to USAFE. The first USAFE host unit at Lakenheath was the 7504th Base Completion Squadron, being activated on that date. The squadron was elevated to an Air Base Group (ABG) on 28 January 1950, and to a Wing (ABW) on 26 September 1950.
  Control of Lakenheath was allocated to the Third Air Force at RAF South Ruislip, which had command of SAC B-29 operations in England. The Third Air Force was subsequently placed directly under USAF orders, with SAC establishing the 7th Air Division Headquarters at RAF Mildenhall. The collocation of the two headquarters within the United Kingdom allowed HQ USAFE to discharge its responsibilities in England, while at the same time allowing SAC to continue in its deterrent role while retaining operational control over flying activities at Lakenheath.
  By 1950, Lakenheath was one of three main operating bases for the SAC in the UK, the others being RAF Marham and RAF Sculthorpe both in Norfolk. A succession of bombardment squadrons and wings, thirty-three in all, rotated through Lakenheath, the B-29s giving way to the improved Boeing B-50 Superfortresses and subsequently, in June 1954, Boeing B-47 Stratojets.
  
  On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group. By 1952, a high security perimeter fencing was erected. The 3909th moved to RAF Greenham Common in Berkshire during 1954, and was replaced by the 3910th Air Base Group.
  Known SAC units which deployed to RAF Lakenheath on temporary duty (TDY) were:
  830th Bombardment Squadron (1 June 1949 – 21 August 1949) (B-50D)
  (TDY from the 509th Composite Group, Walker AFB, New Mexico)
  65th Bombardment Squadron (15 August 1949 – 15 November 1949) (B-50D)
  (TDY From the 43d Bombardment Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona)
  33d Bombardment Squadron (20 November 1949 – 18 February 1950) (B-29)
  (TDY From the 22d Bombardment Wing, March AFB, California)
  96th Bombardment Squadron (22 February 1950 – 12 May 1950) (B-50D)
  (TDY From the 2d Bombardment Wing, Hunter AFB, Georgia)
  301st Bombardment Wing (28 June 1950 – 28 November 1950) (B-29)
  (TDY From Barksdale AFB, Louisiana)
  97th Bombardment Wing (15 March 1952 – 1 April 1952) (B-50D, KC-97)
  (TDY From Biggs AFB, Texas)
  19th Bombardment Squadron (6 September 1951 – 13 December 1951) (B-29)
  (TDY From the 22d Bombardment Wing, March AFB, California)
  The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.
  43d Air Refueling Squadron (21 March 1953 – 5 June 1953) (KC-97)
  (TDY From the 43d Bombardment Wing, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona)
  321st Bombardment Wing (9 December 1954 – 9 March 1955) (B-47, KC-97)
  (TDY From Pinecastle AFB, Florida)
  40th Bombardment Wing (9 June 1955 – 9 September 1955) (B-47, KC-97)
  (TDY From Schilling AFB, Kansas)
  340th Bombardment Wing (14 September 1955 – 3 November 1955) (B-47, KC-97)
  (TDY From Whiteman AFB, Missouri)
  98th Bombardment Wing (12 November 1955 – 28 January 1956) (B-47, KC-97)
  (TDY From Lincoln AFB, Nebraska)
  Lakenheath Task Force (Provisional) (1 May 1955 – UNK) (RB/ERB-47H) (Electronic Reconnaissance and Countermeasures)
  (TDY From 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Forbes AFB, Kansas)
  509th Air Refueling Squadron (26 January 1956 – 30 April 1956) (KC-97)
  (TDY From Walker AFB, New Mexico)
  307th Bombardment Wing (11 July 1956 – 5 October 1956) (B-47, KC-97)
  (TDY From Lincoln AFB, Nebraska)
  Many SAC Squadrons had aircraft at Lakenheath on a transitory basis withou
caption: Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, 1951
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