Fairchild AFB commander in town Sept. 24

MOSES LAKE - The commander of Fairchild Air Force Base will be in Moses Lake Sept. 24 to talk to residents as well as community and business leaders.

Col. Brian Newberry took over as base commander in August 2012, according to information provided by the base public relations office. This will be his first visit to Moses Lake.

Newberry is scheduled to meet with local service clubs, visit the airport and the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce, and talk with residents and community leaders along the way. People will have a chance to meet Newberry and ask questions during lunch at the Porterhouse Restaurant, scheduled for noon.

The schedule could be subject to change, organizer Dennis Clay said.

Newberry is a 22-year veteran of the Air Force and a 1991 graduate of the Air Force Academy. He has flown missions in support of combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was a squadron commander in Turkey.

His experience is in transport aircraft, including the C-17 (one of the biggest transport aircraft in the world), and KC-135, in its incarnation as a refueling aircraft. He has more than 4,300 flight hours, including 397 combat hours.

Prior to assuming command at Fairchild, Newberry was the commander of the 376th Expeditionary Operations Group at a forward base in Kyrgyzstan. The base was a transit area for troops and material moving in and out of Afghanistan.