Officials close unit in France Published Dec. 21, 2004 By Tech. Sgt. Jim Verchio 401st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs ISTRES AIR BASE, France (AFPN) -- The 774th Expeditionary Air Base Group officially closed its doors here during a ceremony Dec. 17, ending more than a decade of U.S. and French cooperation.Because the peacekeeping presence in the Balkans is scaling down, the group of more than 100 active-duty, Guard and Reserve Airmen will begin heading back to their respective units during the next few weeks, officials said.While recent reporting on U.S.-French relations have usually stressed recent differences over the course of events in Iraq, the ceremony reflected on positive trends over two centuries.French Gen. Daniel Bastien, commander of France’s southern air region, expressed his gratitude to the Americans and said the French-American relationship is still very strong.“Even though our countries don’t see eye-to-eye on every issue, we are still very close allies, and we are both committed to each other and toward the fight against terrorism around the world,” he said.During his speech, the commander of the 401st Air Expeditionary Wing, Col. Joseph Abbott, said, “The decade-long cooperation of the French and U.S. air forces at Istres ... is a proud chapter in the story of teamwork between two NATO allies”Istres has been home to U-2 DragonLady reconnaissance aircraft from 1996 to 1999 and KC-135 Stratotankers since 1994.