After 15 years of U.S. Air Force presence, French President
Charles de Gaulle decided to evict non-French NATO forces from France, having developed its own nuclear weapons. He refused to store U.S. nuclear weapons on French soil. On 7 March 1966, he announced that France would withdraw from the
NATO Military Command Structure. He gave foreign NATO forces one year to depart France. The
State Department, the
United States Department of Defense, and Air Force carefully managed the news about the American departure from France, and the attendant problems of an integrated NATO air defense for western Europe and the decrease in tactical airpower. Due to the U.S. media focus on the
Vietnam War, the removal of foreign, mainly US, NATO forces from France went virtually unreported in the US. During 1966–67 all USAF offices and facilities in France were closed and personnel and equipment moved. The last USAF activities were the 1630th Air Base Squadron at Orly Airport and the
Paris Administration Office. Both were closed in June 1967. On 23 October 1967, all foreign flags were furled and after 17 years the last foreign NATO forces departed France. Today most of the old USAF air bases in France are being used by the French military and are not accessible to tourists. ==References==