Fairchild Air Force Base, near Spokane, Washington, was built in 1941 and served during World War II as a repair depot for planes damaged in the Pacific Theater. After the war, the base was put under the aegis of the Strategic Air Command and assigned to the 15th Air Force. The 92nd and 98th Bomb Groups took up residency, flying the most advanced bomber of the time, the B-29. Both groups deployed to the Far East at the beginning of the Korean Conflict.

A new 10,000-foot runway was added to Fairchild in November of 1951. Throughout the 50s there was an appalling string of tragic accidents. In January 1952, a B-36 crashed short of the runway. In April of that same year a B-36 crashed on takeoff, and in July a B-29 crashed on the runway with ROTC cadets on board. In February 1954 a B-36 crashed on the end of runway, and the next month a B-36 crashed on takeoff. In December 1957 a B-52 flown by the wing commander crashed on takeoff. In September 1959 two B-52s collided, and in April 1960 a B-52 crashed on takeoff. All told, there were 65 fatalities in that decade.

Fairchild Oversees Atlas Missile Sites

Fortunately, there were no such accidents at the nine Atlas Missile Sites managed by Fairchild from 1959 to 1965. In 1963, The 567th Strategic Missile Squadron became the first Strategic Air Command squadron to pass a formal Operational Readiness Inspection. The missiles were phased out in 1965.

Present-day Fairchild is known as the "tanker hub of the Northwest." In 1994 the 92nd Bomb Wing became the 92nd Air Refueling Wing, the largest air refueling wing in the Air Force. Fairchild was transferred from Air Combat Command to Air Mobility Command. Today the KC-135 tankers are active in missions in the Persian Gulf and around the world.