“I was in England in 1983, while in the USAF...”
It was the same way at Lakenheath in 1967.
Lakenheath is where I was, plus Mildenhall and Greenham Common. I was TDY from Germany. I was in the Control Tower at Greenham Common, when a C-5 landed with the first ground launched cruise missiles on board. This was a month after the Marine Barracks in Beirut had been bombed, when we saw a vehicle heading across the runway, straight for the C-5 on the ramp. Two USAF security police vehicles stopped him cold. As it turns out, there were no explosives in the car, but those cops did not know that.
I see that not much had changed in that time period, in reference to the subject we were discussing. It is probably still the same now too, if those USAFE bases are still open.