Base Lieutenant Étienne Mantoux

P-61 Black Widow with rockets installed at Étain-Rouvres Air Base, c. 1944.

Rouvres airdrome was built by the French Air Force in 1937. They flew Bloch-131 tactical reconnaissance aircraft. When World War II began, the Royal Air Force moved in flying Hawker Hurricanes of No. 73 Squadron RAF.

After the fall of France, the Luftwaffe used the base, flying Focke-Wulf Fw 190D fighters.

When the German Army was driven out by the U S Third Army in early September 1944, the airfield was put back into operational service by the United States Army Air Forces IX Engineer Command 926th Engineering Aviation Regiment. On 9 September the combat engineers arrived to lay down a temporary airfield to support the ground forces in their advance against enemy forces.

The 926th EAR laid down a 5000-foot grass runway aligned roughly east–west (08/26), along with a small support area. The 7th Field Hospital was stationed here on 13 September 1944, where C-47 transports of the IX Tactical Air Command evacuated wounded to General Hospitals in the rear.[1]

In late October 1944, the 825th Engineering Aviation Regiment returned to the airfield and began improvements, laying down an all-weather Pierced Steel Planking (PSP) runway for Ninth Air Force combat fighter use along with upgrading the support site with tents for billeting and also for support facilities; an access road was built to the existing road infrastructure; a dump for supplies, ammunition, and gasoline drums, along with a drinkable water and minimal electrical grid for communications and station lighting.[2]

The United States Army Air Forces Ninth Air Force 362d Fighter Group used the captured airfield from 5 November 1944 until early April 1945. Its USAAF designation was A-82, Verdun/Etain Advanced Landing Ground (ALG). Three squadrons of P-47 "Thunderbolts" bombed and strafed such targets as flak positions, armored vehicles, and troop concentrations during the Battle of the Bulge. There was some controversy at the time as stationing a hospital and a combat unit on the same airstrip was a violation of the Geneva Conventions, but the 7th Field Hospital was not relocated until 15 Jan 1945 after Metz was taken.[1]

The 362d received a Distinguished Unit Citation for action over the Moselle-Rhine River triangle. Despite the intense anti-aircraft fire encountered while flying armed reconnaissance in close cooperation with infantry forces in that area on 16 March 1945, the 362d hit enemy forces, equipment, and facilities, its targets including motor transports, armored vehicles, railroads, railway cars, and gun emplacements.

In addition P-61 "Black Widows" from the 416th and 425th Night Fighter Squadrons operated from Verdun/Etain until moving into occupied Germany in 1945. By mid-April the airfield had become redundant combat needs and the facility was returned to being a S&E (Supply and Evacuation) airfield, and was used until being closed on 22 May 1945. The wartime airfield was then turned over to French authorities.[3]

In the immediate postwar years, the base was unused.

In May 1952 the Second World War airfield at Etain was proposed for expansion into a modern air base. An agreement was reached to redevelop Etain and to station United States Air Force tactical fighter-bombers there by the end of 1954. However budget restrictions delayed major construction for about a year. Although a base facility was ready for the USAF to use at the end of 1954, the facility was not ready for full acceptance until the summer of 1956 with the railroad spur into Etain not being completed until June 1955, and underground fuel storage was delayed until 1956.

The first contingent of USAF personnel to Etain Air Base was Flight "C", 73rd Support Group (Depot) from Chateauroux-Deols Air Base on 1 February 1953. This advanced group was tasked with safeguarding USAF property and to coordinate construction activities. In addition, the 7005th Air Base Squadron was activated to bring the base up to operational status.

The first USAF unit to use Etan AB was the 388th Fighter-Bomber Wing, deploying to France from Clovis Air Force Base, New Mexico in December 1954. The 388th FBW's flying elements consisted of the 561st, 562d, and 563d Fighter-Bomber Squadrons, each equipped with North American F-86 Sabre (F models). The mission of the 388th FBW was to train for and conduct tactical nuclear weapons delivery.

49th Fighter-Bomber Wing

North American F-100D-40-NH Super Sabre Serial 55-2760 assigned to the 562d TFS/388th TFW, then to 7th TFS/49th TFW

Headquarters, 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing was assigned to Étain Air Base, absorbing the assets of the 388th FBW. The wing was relocated to France from Misawa Air Base, Japan.

1961 Berlin Crisis

After two years without any permanent flying units, on 5 September 1961 Étain Air Base was reactivated as part of Operation Tack Hammer, the United States response to the Berlin Crisis.

Former Ohio 166th TFS Republic F-84F-40-RE Thunderstreak, Serial 52-6526. Today, this aircraft is on permanent exhibit at the Museum of the United States Air Force Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

The 121st Tactical Fighter Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard were called to active duty for a period of twelve months on 1 October. When activated, the wing consisted of three operational units, the 162nd TFSquadron, based at Springfield Municipal Airport, Springfield Ohio; the 164th based at Mansfield-Lahm Municipal Airport, Mansfield Ohio, and the 166th based at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio. However, due to funding shortages, only 26 F-84Fs of 166th TFS was deployed to France, although several ground support units from the 162nd and 164th were also deployed.

On 4 November the first ANG T-33 aircraft arrived at Etain, with the F-84s arriving on 16 November. On 11 December, the deployed units of the 121st TFW were redesignated the 7121st Tactical Wing. In July 1962 the deployed Air National Guardsmen were no longer needed in Europe and the 7121st began to redeploy its personnel to Ohio. All the aircraft and support equipment, however, remained at Etain to equip a new wing being formed there, the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing.

The last of the ANG personnel departed on 9 August 1962. The 7368th Combat Support Group was activated to operate the base after their departure.

After the USAF departed, Étain AB was taken over by the French Army as a helicopter base. It was renamed Base Lieutenant Étienne Mantoux. Currently, the 3rd Combat Helicopter Regiment (3 RHC) operates from the base and flies SA341, SA342, SA 342L1 and 342M1 VIVIANE "Gazelles", and SA 330 "Pumas". About 1000 soldiers serve with the regiment, which has participated in operations in Côte d'Ivoire, the Balkans, Indonesia, Lebanon, and Chad. The 3rd RHC will be the first numeric regiment of the brigade with systems as SIR and SIT.

The base is well-maintained and has been expanded over the years, and remains a front-line French military installation.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Étain-Rouvres Air Base.

• A-82 Memorial
• 388th Fighter Wing Website
• 49th Fighter Wing Website
• 121st Air Refueling Wing Website
• 391st Fighter Squadron
• 388th FBW F-100 Photos
• 3e régiment d'hélicoptères de combat (In French)