[2] Also, as part of Operation Quicksilver, which was designed to deceive the Germans about where the invasion of France would take place, Clastres was attacked by Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber groups in early June 1944, just prior to the D-Day landings in Normandy.
[3] American Ninth Army units moved through the area in early September 1944, heading towards Saint-Quentin.
[5] In addition to the airfield, tents were used 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.
There was no use for the prewar airport, and 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.
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.
Other than the occasional touch-and-go landing of NATO (USAF) aircraft, Saint-Simon – Clastres Air Base was never used.
In recent years, a coating over the concrete appears to have been laid down on the main runway and taxiway, between the dispersal areas; these perhaps may be used for light aircraft, probably agricultural.
The concrete is deteriorated with large breaks in the expansion joints visible, however part of the runway has also been resurfaced to the east side of the NATO runway, and a small metal structure, probably used for agriculture has been erected on the 29 end by a local access road from the village of Clastres, just to the southeast of the airfield.