[4] Situated in Oxfordshire, about 75 mi (121 km) west north-west of London, it is close to the village of Brize Norton and the towns of Carterton and Witney.

Major infrastructure redevelopment began in 2010, ahead of the closure of RAF Lyneham in 2012, and Brize Norton became the sole air point of embarkation for British troops.

16 Service Training School, equipped with the North American Harvard, moved to Brize Norton in June 1940.

296 Squadron added the Handley Page Halifax Mk.V to their inventory and moved to RAF Earls Colne on 29 September 1944.

204 Advanced Flying School, equipped with the de Havilland Mosquito, staying at Brize Norton until March and June 1950 respectively.

As with the other stations it occupied, SAC invested heavily in extending the runway (6,000 to 9,000 ft (1,829 to 2,743 m)), taxiways and dispersals, as well as constructing accommodation and weapons handling facilities.

[18][19] The first major USAF deployment was that of twenty-one Convair B-36 Peacemaker strategic bombers of the 11th Bomb Wing for eight days in June 1952.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress and the KB-29 air-air tankers of the 301st Bombardment Wing were based at Brize Norton on temporary duty from December 1952 to April 1953.

The planned withdrawal of the USAF, its long runway and close proximity to army bases in the south of England, resulted in Brize Norton being selected for the role in 1963.

53 Squadron equipped with the Short Belfast C.1 heavy lift turboprop freighter moved from RAF Fairford in May 1967.

101 Squadron reformed at Brize Norton on 1 May 1984,[30] flying the converted former civil VC-10, heavily modified and updated by British Aerospace for military service as aerial refuelling tankers between 1983 and 1993.

Of the thirty-nine airline aircraft acquired by the RAF, thirteen were converted, while the remainder were cannibalised for spare parts.

[31] Following the Falklands War, the RAF found itself lacking in the strategic transport capabilities required to sustain the expanded military presence there.

216 Squadron was reformed at Brize Norton in November 1984,[32] initially flying six ex-British Airways Lockheed L-1011 TriStars, followed by three more from Pan-Am.

During the 2003 Iraq War, four anti-war protesters managed to access the main runway in an attempt to prevent aircraft taking off.

[38] On 12 August 2006, campaigners restricted access at the main entrance for several hours in a protest against British foreign policy in the Middle East.

[39] Work to repair and upgrade the runways commenced in April 2007, and repatriation of British personnel was transferred to RAF Lyneham at the same time.

[40] With the closure of RAF Lyneham taking place in late 2011, the repatriation transferred back to Brize Norton on 8 September 2011.

[43] All the RAF's fixed wing transport assets were consolidated at Brize Norton, with the transfer of the entire C-130 Hercules force, together with the entry into service of the Airbus A400M and the A330 Voyager.

[46] On 25 January 2011, a new station chapel and chaplaincy centre was opened by the RAF Chaplain-in-Chief, The Venerable (Air Vice Marshal) Ray Pentland.

[48] As part of work to prepare for the introduction of A330 Voyager aircraft into active service, a new hangar and office complex was opened in the same month.

These were presented to the Station Commander of RAF Brize Norton, Group Captain Dom Stamp in a welcoming ceremony.

[50] In February 2012, work started on converting a Second World War era hangar, located north of the main airfield site, into new accommodation for the RAF Tactical Medical Wing (TMW) and No.

A Voyager with the registration ZZ333 was conducting a ferrying flight from Brize Norton, Carterton to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.

[54] A new maintenance hangar capable of accommodating three A400M Atlas aircraft was officially opened by Minister for Defence Procurement Guto Bebb on 1 February 2018.

The hangar, located on the eastern side of the airfield, cost approximately £70 million and provides 24,000 square metres of floor space.

[59] AirTanker also operates service to RAF Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands, on which civilian passengers can book tickets.

Brize Norton's badge, awarded in January 1968, features a knight's helmet with two blue ostrich feathers against the backdrop of an arched castle gateway.

The gateway represents the station's role as the hub for UK troops and transport aircraft departing on worldwide operations.

Named Gate Guardian, the metal sculpture depicts a globe circled by four of Brize Norton's aircraft, an Atlas, a Voyager, a Globemaster and a Hercules.