Fairchild Air Force Base celebrated 75th birthday

Fairchild Air Force Base turned 75 in March - and several hundred of its closest friends stopped by to celebrate.

Fairchild began operations in early 1942, the culmination of community efforts that began in 1935 to get an Army Air Corps facility located in the area. Several years later, the Army also viewed Spokane favorably in its efforts to locate a base closer to the Pacific Ocean and interior flying routes to Alaska, but protected from attack by the natural barriers of the Cascade Mountains.

In late 1941 after receiving Army authorization, Spokane citizens raised almost $125,000 in a week to purchase 2,400 acres of land on the West Plains for the future home of the base. It was the start of community support for an installation that is almost unprecedented in the rest of the military, something current Fairchild installation commander and 92nd Air Refueling Wing Commander Col. Ryan Samuelson noted when he pointed out that the March 1 guest list ran almost five pages in length.

"That is a testament to the support for the base from the community," Samuelson added.

The Army eventually spent more than $25 million in construction, with over 2,500 workers erecting 262 buildings. Part of that history was on display through static presentations at the ceremony, along with other aspects of the air base's presence on the region.

Samuelson eluded to this history in his remarks, but added the real history of the base is made by its personnel, "the actions of its heroes." This included three women who in 1945 finished the 10,000th B-17 engine refurbishment in the hangar the ceremony was held in and Lt. John "Red" Morgan, who the base's community center is named after and who earned a Congressional Medal of Honor for his action over Germany as a B-17 pilot during World War II

A more recent hero Samuelson acknowledged is Staff Sgt. Andy Brown "who saved countless lives in ending a hospital shooting rampage during one of Fairchild's darkest days" in 1994.

Samuelson also pointed to the professionalism and dedication of current base personnel, who have "been engaged in combat deployment longer than any generation in our nation's history" and who have set air refueling records the last several years in the Middle East. Samuelson added it was the professionalism that has led Fairchild to be the winner of the U.S. military's coveted Omaha Trophy for the second year in a row, and fourth in the base's history.

In his remarks after Samuelson, Spokane Mayor David Condon noted that while it was logistics that led to the base's location in the Spokane region, it was the support from the community that helped the War Department make the decision.

"Spokane quite literally let its money follow its heart in its long courtship to get the base," Condon said.

Condon also touched on aspects of the base's importance to the region and its future, such as the location of a survival school and the community support.

"Today is the beginning of the next 75 years together," Condon said.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.