RAF Croughton Winter Reception

Julie and I were welcomed by our USAF hosts at Croughton last night along with many other local civic leaders from Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. There were representatives from both RAF Croughton (headed by Colonel Eric P Oliver, Commander of the 442nd Air Base Group) and RAF Alconbury (headed by Colonel William H Kale III, Commander of the 501st Combat Support Wing) present.

I had some fascinating conversations including with one of their chaplains and one of their physicists. Julie and I also had a lovely chat with the Deputy civilian commander of the base and his wife about how much lovelier it is to be here than in the USAF airbase in eastern Turkey a couple of years ago

Naturally, I spent some of my time persuading those whom I talked with to come and visit Buckingham, and the Old Gaol as a rich cornucopia of local artefacts and historical items. Indeed several of the senior officers live in in the town already and we may well be welcoming many more as more USAF officers, staff and their families arrive over the next couple of years.

And it was good to catch up with the Mayor of Brackley (we are off to his Ceilidh in a couple of weeks time) and the Mayor of Bicester and his wife.