Laon - Athies Air Base Laon - Athies Air Base is an abandoned military airfield , which is located near the city of Laon in the Aisne department of France . Its history begins before World War II , when it was originally a grass civil airdrome . During the German occupation of France ( 1940 – 1944 ) , the Luftwaffe developed the airdrome into a major military airfield , basing a variety of planes at the airfield , as well as using it as a maintenance and supply depot . Attacked frequently by Allied Air Forces , the Luftwaffe base was seized by Allied Ground Forces in September 1944 and was used as a Fighter and bomber base by the United States Army Air Forces until the end of the war . Closed after the war , the airfield was rebuilt in the 1950s as a NATO Dispersed Operating Base for United States Air Force units in France to disperse their forces to in case of a war with the Warsaw Pact . The base was never used , and was abandoned by 1967 . History . Athies appears to have been an airport prior to World War II , most likely with some hangars , a terminal , control tower and grass runways . German use during World War II . Seized by the Germans in June 1940 during the Battle of France , Athies was used as a Luftwaffe military airfield during the occupation . The Germans improved the facility by expanding the support area with numerous maintenance shops , hangars , and laying down two 1600m concrete all - weather runways , aligned 17 / 35 and 08 / 26 . Numerous taxiways and dispersal aircraft parking areas were also constructed . Known units assigned ( all from Luftlotte 3 , Fliegerkorps IV ) : In addition , from wartime USAAF records , the Luftwaffe established a maintenance repair and supply depot at Athies . The airfield was initially used as a bomber base for night bomber operations by He - 111s and Ju - 88s , attacking targets in England until late 1943 . With Luftwaffe bomber activities ending , Athies became a night interceptor base against Royal Air Force bombers flying over Occupied France on their way to targets in Germany . It appears that SG 4 , a Fw - 190F / G unit , was brought to Athies from the Eastern Front , where it was a dive - bomber unit . The airfield was attacked on several occasions by Eighth Air Force heavy bombers in 1943 and 1944 . American use . During the Liberation of France , the Luftwaffe abandoned the base airfield at the end of August , sending in demolition teams to blow up hangars , buildings , electrical generators , water treatment and other facilities . It was sized by Allied Ground Forces in early September , and turned over to the United States Army Air Forces . The IX Engineer Command 820th Engineer Aviation Battalion moved in about 7 September and began a quick rehabilitation of the base so it could be used by American aircraft . It was declared operationally ready for combat units on 9 September , only a few days after its capture from German forces , being designated as Advanced Landing Ground " A - 69 Laon / Athies Airfield " . Although operationally usable , Athies was a wrecked base from the Allied air attacks and what was blown up by the Germans as they withdrew . The Americans made due with what could be repaired , and moved in what equipment was necessary to conduct combat operations . Many buildings of masonry construction had been made useless , their contents consisting of nothing but wreckage . Under American control , Ninth Air Force used the base for several units from 7 September 1944 until closing the base in July 1945 . Known units assigned were : With each combat group having three fully equipped squadrons , the airfield at Laon - Athies became one of the busiest American bases on the continent . With the war ended , Laon / Athies airfield was closed on 23 May 1945 and turned over to the French Air Ministry . Postwar use . In French control after the war , the base sat abandoned for several years . There was much unexploded ordnance at the site which needed to be removed , as well as the wreckage of German and American aircraft . Many of the buildings at the base were destroyed by the war , and although some had been repaired by the American combat engineers , most were in ruins . Also , the French Air Force wanted nothing to do with a Nazi airfield on French soil . As a result , the Air Ministry leased the land , concrete runways , structures and all , out to farmers for agricultural use , sending in unexploded ordnance teams to remove the dangerous munitions . NATO use . In 1950 when as a result of the Cold War threat of the Soviet Union , the air base at Laon - Athies was offered to the United States Air Force by the French Air Ministry as part of their NATO commitment to establish a modern Air Force Base at the site . The high cost of breaking the agricultural leases , and also the high costs of removing the concrete German runways and other facilities led to its rejection as a site for a full air base . However NATO faced several problems when attempting to solve the air power survival equation . Planning for a Warsaw Pact first strike survival in both conventional and nuclear wars had to be considered . The main air bases were built on small parcels of land with very limited dispersal space . It was decided to use Laon - Athies as an emergency " backup " airfield , consisting of a " bare bones " facility of a runway with minimal facilities intended for use by all NATO air forces to disperse their aircraft in case of war . Beginning about 1954 , French demolition companies returned to Laon - Athies and began demolishing the German structures and removing the wreckage of the World War II air base . French Army Explosive demolition teams were brought in to safely remove unexploded ordnance remaining from the war and the site was prepared for construction . A modern all - weather concrete NATO jet runway was laid down aligned 02 / 20 , with taxiways and dispersal areas for three fighter squadrons . The dispersals were designed in a circular marguerite system of hardstands which could be revetted later with earth for added aircraft protection . Typically the margueriete consisted of fifteen to eighteen hardstands , with each hardstand capable of parking one or two aircraft , allowing the planes to be spaced approximately 150 feet ( 50 m ) apart . Each squadron was assigned to a separate hangar / hardstand complex . Other than the occasional touch - and - go landing of NATO ( USAF ) aircraft , Laon - Athies Air Base was never used . With the French withdrawal from the integrated military component of NATO in 1967 , the base was abandoned . Current . Laon - Athies Air Base is to the east of the A26 autoroute , near the city of Laon , northeast of the D977 interchange . Today , the former airport and military air base is used for agriculture . The NATO runway , dispersals and taxiways remain in place , and although deteriorated after 40 years of abandonment , they are most likely usable for emergency aircraft landings . All three marguerites and their dispersal pads remain , some removed , but most in reasonable condition . The removal of the wartime base in the early 1950s was very complete . The only remaining features of Athies wartime past are the two German - built concrete runways , still largely intact . Also taxiways built by the Germans remain as single - track agricultural roads . It is suspected that many former wartime buildings and structures are in the wooded area to the southeast of the airfield , including the bomb dump , however that cannot be discerned from aerial photography due to the extensive tree canopy . Several wartime runways can be seen in the wooded area , probably leading to dispersals , revetments and other abandoned concrete structures .