The station was then put on a care and maintenance basis thirteen days later on 28 August 1946. During 1953 the expansion and widening of the main runway (05-23) had begun with the associated buildings and dispersals being constructed. This included an Operational Readiness Platform and the Gaydon type hangar which was large enough to accommodate the new V-bombers which were coming into service. RAF Gaydon re-opened on 1 March 1954 before the first operational squadron (No. 138 Squadron RAF) arrived on 1 January 1955 which operated the nuclear capable Vickers Valiants. The squadron stayed at the station until 18 November 1955 when they moved to RAF Wittering. The next unit to arrive was No. 232 Operational Conversion Unit RAF (OCU) which started operating during July 1957 with the Handley Page Victor and the English Electric Canberra T4 with the first 7 Victors arriving on 11 November 1957. All Victor I crews trained at RAF Gaydon alongside the crews of the Valiants. However, in 1962 a similar unit was set up at Wittering called Victor B.2 Conversion Unit which was a section of the OCU before the OCU at Gaydon disbanded on 30 June 1965 with the Victor element becoming the Tanker Training Flight RAF with the airfield being passed over to RAF Flying Training Command (FTC). In 1968 RAF Flying Training Command formed No. 637 Gliding School RAF at RAF Gaydon for the purpose of Air Cadet glider training. Under FTC the first unit to arrive was No. 2 Air Navigation School RAF (ANS) which flew the Vickers Varsity for nearly five years before moving to RAF Finningley during May 1970 after becoming part of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF on 24 April 1970. In 1970 the airfield was transferred to HQ Central Flying School; the first unit being allocated to the airfield was the Special Avionics Servicing Unit RAF of No. 1 Group RAF of Strike Command, until it was disbanded on 1 December 1971 when control of the airfield finally passed to No. 71 Maintenance Unit RAF at RAF Bicester before closing on 31 October 1974. No. 637 Gliding School remained at Gaydon until 1977, thereafter it reformed at RAF Little Rissington. In 1974 the 43 Officer's Married Quarters (OMQ) were used by US Air Force personnel and families while the Airmen's Married Quarters (AMQ) were used by the local council. The OMQ were vacated in 1978 and demolished.(The roads to the OMQ were lined with beautiful cherry trees that were stunning in the spring).