Moses Lake welcomes Fairchild Tuesday
A KC-135 is shown shortly after it landed at the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake last week. A public welcoming event is Tuesday at the airport terminal.
MOSES LAKE - The public is invited to attend a welcoming
ceremony for Fairchild Air Force Base airmen, from 3 p.m. to 7
p.m., Tuesday.
The free event is held at the Grant County International Airport,
located at 7810 Andrews St. NE, Moses Lake.
MOSES LAKE - The public is invited to attend a welcoming ceremony for Fairchild Air Force Base airmen, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday.
The free event is held at the Grant County International Airport, located at 7810 Andrews St. NE, Moses Lake.
Aircraft tours are held from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Children are welcome to attend with an adult.
Speakers are Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.; Moses Lake Mayor Jon Lane; Port of Moses Lake Commissioner Kent Jones; Grant County Commissioner Carolann Swartz; Forward Fairchild lead Gregory Bever and Col. Paul Guemmer.
Event sponsors are Million Air Moses Lake, Sonico, the Port of Moses Lake, Moses Lake Security, Columbia Basin Job Corps, Civil Air Patrol and the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce.
Although aircraft maintenance company Sonico doesn't have a contract with the Air Force, company President Bill Purdue said Sonico sponsored the event to be a good neighbor.
"We knew the Air Force was coming here," he said. "We had capabilities they could use and they didn't know about. They visited here many, many times. I think they will probably use us if they have an emergency during their stay."
Sonico has been located at the Port of Moses Lake since 1980.
"The KC-135s the Air Force operates are very familiar to us," he said. "We can do repairs on components on that airplane."
He said the Air Force had a need and they came to Moses Lake.
"If we can help them, we want to do that," Purdue commented.
Sonico has equipment to fabricate parts, test benches to test aircraft fluids and skilled technicians, he said.
About 200 Fairchild airmen arrived in Moses Lake last week as part of Fairchild's temporary move here.
A $42.8 million runway reconstruction at Fairchild brought crews to Moses Lake.
They are expected to stay at a Big Bend Community College dorm and a Moses Lake hotel until November.