[6] Construction started in 1943 as part of a programme to open fourteen airfields in southern England to be used by British and American troop carrier transports and gliders.

The aircraft were used for airborne forces operations, performing parachute drops of troops and supplies and towing Airspeed Horsa assault gliders.

[10] The following units were also here at some point:[11] In the early years of the Cold War the British and American governments reached an agreement under which elements of the USAF Strategic Air Command (SAC) would be based in the UK.

In 1948 the Americans occupied RAF stations including Fairford, Brize Norton, Burtonwood, Greenham Common, Mildenhall, Lakenheath and Woodbridge to build up a deterrent in Europe against the Soviets.

[13] In 1950, as a result of the beginning of the Cold War, the airfield was transferred to the United States Air Force for strategic bomber operations.

[12] The runway was completed in 1953, and served as a forward airbase for the first Convair B-36 Peacemaker aircraft from Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.

Aircraft and crews operated from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Keflavik, Iceland; Zaragosa, Spain; Lajes Field, Azores; Sigonella NAS, Italy; and Hellenikon, Greece.

The 420 ABG reported directly to Third Air Force until 26 May 2004, when the 38th Combat Support Wing (38 CSW) was established at Sembach Annex, Germany.

[25] In 2010 USAF withdrew all its uniformed staff from the station by September 2010 leaving a civilian operating unit to maintain the base on a "care and maintenance" basis.

However the base remains a designated standby airfield for heavy bomber operations, capable of immediate reactivation within 24–48 hours and it continues to host the Royal International Air Tattoo every July.

Air Force One with President Obama departed for Washington 5 September after an 'impromptu' visit to Stonehenge on his way from Newport back to RAF Fairford.

Baltops, mainly a maritime exercise, takes place off the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, while Saber Strike saw the B-52s flying close air support missions in Poland.

The Ample Strike exercise in September 2016 was the first time that US Air Force Reserve had deployed two types of heavy bombers (B-1Bs and B-52Hs) under the same parent operating Wing (307BW).

The squadrons, based at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, are both part of the 55th Operations Group and support Boeing RC-135 surveillance aircraft when forward deployed on temporary duty to the UK from the United States.

The move, part of the US Department of Defense's European Infrastructure Consolidation programme, was expected to see 500 personnel and RC-135 operations transfer to Fairford.

[32] In September 2019, the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron (99th ERS) began a Lockheed U-2S Dragon Lady detachment from Beale Air Force Base, California.

[36] The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) acquired 43.87 hectares (108.4 acres) of land to north east of RAF Fairford in November 2000.

The DIO indicated that the land would be used to enhance station security and improve bird hazard management, as well as for military exercises and recreation.

RIAT is held in support of The Royal Air Force Charitable Trust and has attracted an attendance of up to 185,000 spectators over the weekend, with several hundred military aircraft belonging to air-arms from around the world taking part in static and flying displays.