Fairchild Air Force Base

Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation located approximately twelve miles southwest of Spokane, Washington. Established in 1942 as the Spokane Army Air Depot, it was renamed Fairchild Air Force Base in 1950 in honor of General Muir S. Fairchild. The base is owned by the Department of Defense and operated by the United States Air Force, controlled by Air Mobility Command (AMC).

Historically, Fairchild AFB served as a repair depot during World War II. During the Cold War, from 1947 to 1992, it was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base, hosting bombers, tankers, and for a period (1960-1965), Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles. Aircraft stationed here included the B-29 Superfortress, B-36 Peacemaker, B-52 Stratofortress, and KC-135 Stratotanker. Nuclear gravity bombs were stored at the base until the late 1990s.

The host unit at Fairchild is the 92nd Air Refueling Wing (92 ARW), assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force. The 92 ARW provides air refueling, passenger and cargo airlift, and aero-medical evacuation missions. The 141st Air Refueling Wing of the Washington Air National Guard also operates KC-135R Stratotankers from Fairchild. Additionally, the 336th Training Group, which includes the Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) School, is based here. The base has one concrete runway, 05/23, measuring 13,899 feet.

Fairchild AFB has experienced notable incidents, including a 1994 shooting at the base hospital and a B-52H bomber crash in 1994 during a practice flight. As of July 2021, Fairchild was the USAF's largest KC-135 operating location, with 63 aircraft assigned.