General, A positive military-to-military relationship that started in 1942, making a significant difference then and continues to do so today.

1 April 1918: the Royal Air Force was founded: A young Headquarters Eighth Air Force - with its subordinate commands including VIII Bomber Command and VIII Fighter Command - deployed to England in 1942 where its partnering with the Royal Air Force proved strategically decisive.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) provided Eighth Air Force (8 AF) and its assigned units with airfield installations and support facilities, logistical support, training areas, equipment, intelligence data and operational insights on the Germany Air Force (GAF), and the RAF was the entry point to British industries for and support to the Eighth.

The RAF - specifically the RAF Bomber Command - collaborated with 8 AF on air combat operational items (examples: de-conflict radio frequencies used by installations and air units, air space management, and air-sea rescue procedures by the Royal Navy); conducted technology and technical knowledge transfers (one example: shared airborne radar systems); conducted special air operations; and implemented the Combined Bomber Offensive with synchronizing air operations by striking the same target or geographical area during the night time (by RAF Bomber Command) that had been struck during the daylight hours (by 8 AF). And the RAF provided a pathway for technical innovations and equipment transfers between British industry and the Eighth Air Force.

During World War II, the Eighth adopted the RAF operational procedure of using code words to identify headquarters, technical development programs, and specific air operations. Examples: code name for the Combined Bomber Offensive was "Pointblank." Headquarters RAF Bomber Command was known as "Southdown" with the name of "Widewing" used for Eighth Air Force headquarters. Code name of "Pinetree" denoted Headquarters VIII Bomber Command and is reflected today in the Commander's Pinetree Conference Room in the headquarters building on Barksdale AFB. (On 22 February 1944, VIII Bomber Command was redesignated as Eighth Air Force. Today's Eighth Air Force traces its lineage and honors to VIII Bomber Command activated on 1 February 1942.)

Rest of the Story: After World War II with the Eighth assigned to Strategic Air Command (SAC), the 8 AF / RAF collaboration continued. One example was the multiple Bombing and Navigation Competition events conducted in the United States where 8 AF and RAF aircrews participated. Several times 8 AF bomber aircrews deployed to England to compete in RAF-sponsored competitions.

Another example of collaboration is from 1975 to 2010, fifteen RAF Exchange Officers served on the Eighth's headquarters staff and resided on Barksdale AFB in residential quarters earmarked for the RAF. When the RAF Exchange Officer billet was transferred to cyber operations at another air base, the RAF Ensign Flag that flew at the Barksdale residence was presented to then 8 AF Commander (#49) Major General Floyd Carpenter. The RAF Ensign Flag is carefully preserved and on display in the Eighth's Command Section, near the Commander's Office. Senior RAF officers were also present at the 70th Anniversary heritage dinner in 2012 held on Barksdale AFB and again at the grand formal banquet in 2017 for the 75th Anniversary - hosted by the Eighth Air Force Consultation Committee - held in Shreveport.

Numerous Commanders of the Eighth have travelled to England and visited bomber units deployed to RAF air bases. Many have presented memorial wreaths at the Cambridge American Cemetery in England to honor 8 AF air warriors from World War II laying at rest, and senior RAF officers were present at these solemn ceremonies. And many 8 AF Commanders have participated in memorial ceremonies and receptions sponsored by the RAF in England. As well many RAF senior officers have visited the United States to conduct orientation flights on bomber aircraft assigned to the Eighth Air Force.

Static Display: The air park at the Barksdale Global Power Museum has a MK-2 Avro Vulcan bomber aircraft (serial number XM-606) on static display with Royal Air Force aircraft markings and camouflage pattern. The static Vulcan bomber became part of the air park in 1983. (Special thanks to Ms. Jan Micaletti, Museum Director/Curator.)