SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2017
SPECIAL SECTION
R A S E Y 5 7
INSIDE THE SPECIAL SECTION
LOOKING BACK IN TIME THROUGH FAIRCHILD PICTURES
HOW FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE GOT ITS NAME
BASE HISTORY FINALLY HAS PLACE TO CALL HOME
MEET THE FACES BEHIND THE SCENES OF FAIRCHILD
From the Spokane land purchase in 1941 to construct what was then known as Galena Station to the April 1952 failed takeoff of a B-36 bomber that killed 15 crew members, Fairchild Air Force base has a long and storied history that can be told through archived photographs from long ago. TIMELINE AND PHOTOS ON PAGES 8 & 9
The base is the namesake of Air Force General Muir S. Fairchild, who had a long military history before he died March 17, 1950. Moves were made to rename Spokane Air Force Base in Fairchild’s honor later that year. The ceremony was attended by “the largest gathering of top ranking Air Force officers ever here at one time,” an article read. PAGE 2
Fairchild’s Heritage Museum closed in 2002 at the order of the Pentagon, leaving its thousands of historical artifacts without a home. After more than a decade, it finally does. The Honor Point Military & Aerospace Museum opened in June to house a collection of uniforms and other pieces from Fairchild’s history. PAGE 4
There is a vast network of workers and service members inside the base – some have jobs seemingly normal to the outside world, while others have high-tech tasks hard to grasp. Thumb through the pages to find a sampling of the people who come from all over the country to handle the day-to-day operations of Fairchild. STARTING ON PAGE 2
ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS BOVEY / VINTAGESPOKANEPRINTS.COM
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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
FAIRCHILD
Fairchild AFB named after distinguished Air Force general
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Poster prints of cover available online
By Nina Culver THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
General Muir S. Fairchild, a Bellingham native, had a long and storied military history before he died suddenly on March 17, 1950, while serving as vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. Moves were quickly made to rename Spokane Air Force Base in Fairchild’s honor later that year and a public dedication ceremony attended by his widow and other family members was held on July 20, 1951. A Spokesman-Review story said the ceremony was attended by “the largest gathering of top ranking Air Force officers ever here at one time.” A flyover of military planes at the end of the ceremony included three B-36 Peacemakers, the new plane that was replacing the B-29 at the base. Another B-36 that arrived at the base that day was so fresh from the assembly line that the plane didn’t have its Air Force markings painted on yet, according to news archives. Numerous dignitaries and elected officials attended the dedication, where Fairchild’s widow hosted a garden reception. A newspaper story detailed what she and her daughter were wearing and described the general’s widow as “petite, gracious and charming.” According to his official Air Force biography, Fairchild was born in 1894 in Bellingham and joined the Washington National Guard in 1916. After a year he became a flying cadet and in 1918 he began flying bombing missions with French forces while he was on detached duty. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his participation in the Pan-American goodwill flights. Fairchild attended multiple schools, including the Air Corps Tactical School, the Army Industrial College and the Army War College. In 1939 he was appointed director of the Department of Air Tactics and Strategy at the Air Corps Tactical School. He was named the first secretary of the newly formed Air Staff in 1941 and in early 1946 he was named commandant of the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.
The illustration on the cover of this section was designed by Spokane artist, Chris Bovey.
U.S. AIR FORCE
Gen. Muir S. Fairchild
According to his official Air Force biography, Muir S. Fairchild was born in 1894 in Bellingham and joined the Washington National Guard in 1916. After a year he became a flying cadet and in 1918 he began flying bombing missions with French forces while he was on detached duty. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his participation in the Pan-American goodwill flights.
His limited edition, handmade print of Fairchild Air Force Base along with prints of many other Spokane landmarks are available in area stores and at his website: http://vintagespokaneprints.com/
“Spokane Hyperbaric Center would like to Congratulate Fairchild AFB on its 75th Anniversary. Thank you for your Continued Commitment to Community y and to Country.”
He was made vice chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force in May 1948 with the rank of four-star general. He held that position until his death.
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FACES OF FAIRCHILD Behind the scenes at Fairchild Air Force Base, there is a vast network of civilians and service members performing many of the same jobs one finds in the outside community. Someone has to machine new parts for aging planes. Someone has to schedule doctor’s appointments for veterans. And someone has to maintain a speedy internet connection for the thousands of people who work on base. Thumb through the pages to find a sampling of the people who handle the day-to-day operations of Fairchild. They come from all over the country to serve in this outpost in Spokane County, often one of many stops during their military careers. Stories by Chad Sokol, photos by Dan Pelle, The Spokesman-Review
2nd Lt. Michael Brittan
s r Yea of KNOW HOW for Both of Us! We are so thankful for your service; now and for 75 years of being here in our area. We’re proud of supporting you for those 75 years, and would like to offer a special ‘salute’ to you:
Brittan’s job title – cyberspace maintenance officer for the 92nd Communication Squadron – sounds like something out of a science fiction movie. But he plays it down. “The comm squadron here is kind of like the IT department at any business,” said Brittan, a 25-year-old from Mattawan, Michigan, who became a commissioned officer in 2015. He arrived at Fairchild about a year ago and is now instrumental in maintaining the base’s internet servers and communication infrastructure. Fairchild, he said, is “its own little community” and he enjoys working with people “from every facet of life.”
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PHOTOS BY DAN PELLE / THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
The Honor Point Military & Aerospace Museum is open at Felts Field.
Fairchild’s history finally found a home Honor Point Military & Aerospace Museum opened in June By Mike Prager THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
After more than a decade in limbo, a collection of items reflecting the heritage of Fairchild Air Force Base is on display in Spokane. The Honor Point Military & Aerospace Museum opened in June to house a collection of uniforms and other pieces from Fairchild’s history. Fairchild’s Heritage Museum closed in 2002 at the order of the Pentagon, leaving its thousands of artifacts without a home. Supporters of the project worked for years to create a new museum to honor both Fairchild and the region’s other military history, so that the items – many donated by individuals over the years – wouldn’t be lost to the region and its residents. At one point, Congress stepped in to ensure the artifacts would stay in the Inland Northwest and not be shipped off to museums elsewhere, according to Spokesman-Review archives. The 10,000-square-foot Honor Point museum houses vintage aircraft parked in the hangar, a Jeep, historic photos, uniforms and other memorabilia. Some of the items have a connection to Spokane and Eastern Washington. The collection also includes items from the former Fort
If you go The Honor Point Military & Aerospace Museum is open Thursdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Felts Field. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for seniors, active or retired military and students age 11 and older. Children 10 and under are free.
Larry Tobin’s 1942 Stearman biplane is on display at the Honor Point Military & Aerospace Museum. George Wright in northwest Spokane, Nazi memorabilia and military weapons. And vintage Stearman and Piper Cub aircraft belonging to a former commercial airline pilot are on display. Tobby Hatley, project manager for the museum, told The Spokesman-Review when the museum opened that it’s a beginning.
“This is the first time we've ever had a home and the first time some of this stuff has ever been on display, so we will continue to work with it and it will evolve, and become better and better as time goes on,” he said. Honor Point is not exclusive to the Air Force. The other branches of the military are represented in its displays.
TYLER TJOMSLAND / THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
William J. Harmeyer, who served in Vietnam with Army Special Forces, or the Green Berets as they are popularly known, smiles while mingling with fellow veterans during “Welcome Home – A Community Tribute to All Veterans,” held by Honor Point Military & Aerospace Museum on Nov. 11 at Felts Field in Spokane.
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FAIRCHILD FACES OF FAIRCHILD
Airman 1st Class Christina Opfar
RICH LANDERS / THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Joseph Cain, left, and Lance Paquette of the Fairchild Air Force Base Survival School teach fire-building basics during a survival training course Jan. 24, 2015, for the Priest Lake Search and Rescue volunteers at Priest Lake.
Fairchild units include air wings, survival school By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
The number 92 has been big at Fairchild Air Force Base since 1947. That was the year the 92nd Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, was assigned to what was then the Spokane Army Air Field. The wing, which is a major unit in Air Force terminology, flew B-29s, the biggest bomber at that time. A year later, the Strategic Air Command was getting a new, even bigger bomber, the B-36, so SAC renamed Fairchild’s unit the 92nd Bombardment Wing, Medium, because it was still flying B-29s. A few years later it went back to being the 92nd Heavy because it got B-36s, and later B-52s. When tankers and Atlas missiles were assigned to the base, it was the 92nd Aerospace Wing. After the
missiles were deactivated, it went back to being the 92nd Bomb Wing. When the B-52s left in 1994, it became the 92nd Air Refueling Wing. Within the wing, there are separate groups for operations, maintenance and mission support, as well as the medical group, which operates an urgent care and emergency room, plus outpatient medical, dental and aerospace medicine. They all have the 92nd as part of their title. As the largest unit at Fairchild, the 92nd is the host unit. But there are others that make their home at the West Plains base. G The Washington Air National Guard’s 141st Air Refueling Wing has shared space at Fairchild since 1976, when it switched from flying fighters to flying tankers, and moved from its former home at Geiger Air Field. The 141st originally had its own KC-135s,
and for a period even flew a different model, the KC-135E. But the active duty and Guard wings now share planes and some joint operations. G The 336th Training Group operates the Air Force Survival School, which trains about 6,000 students a year in SERE – Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape. It also trains SERE instructors and has the 36th Rescue Squadron, which flies UH-1n helicopters, aids in the school’s jump training and helps local law enforcement on search and rescue operations. G The 509th Weapons Squadron is also a tenant at Fairchild. Although the KC-135 tankers are not equipped with weapons, the squadron does teach crews the tactics of using, planning and executing “integrated air power,” of which the tankers are very much a part.
Opfar works in a room stuffed with medical records in Fairchild’s clinic for service members and veterans. A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, she’s tasked with helping patients navigate the health care system, often coordinating with outside providers to send and acquire records. It’s busy work that requires a lot of attention to detail. “We’re pretty fast-paced,” Opfar said.
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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
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FAIRCHILD MORE FACES OF FAIRCHILD
Senior Airman Tatiana Anderson
Anderson, 22, is a paralegal in the Air Force’s legal branch, the Judge Advocate General’s Corps. A native of San Diego, she joined the Air Force in 2014 and provides a range of legal services, such as drafting wills for retired service members. “I wanted to help people, and I figured the Air Force was the best way I could do that,” she said.
Senior Airman Sable McCampbell
Senior Airman Jeremy Gilham
Ask Gilham what he does for a living and you’ll get a simple answer: “Maps.” More specifically: three-dimensional maps of Fairchild Air Force Base. Gilham, a 26-year-old Coeur d’Alene native, is a journeymen for the 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron. He spends his days surveying the terrain and buildings of Fairchild and logging that information into a digital mapping system. Those maps are a vital resource for designing new structures on the base, planning for emergencies and routing vehicles to improve traffic flow.
No Kennels, No Cages, Socializing, Wading Pool, McCampbell is an analyst in the 92nd Maintenance Group, tasked with scheduling repairs for Fairchild’s fleet of Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, which were built in the 1950s and ’60s. “These planes are old,” said McCampbell, who grew up in San Antonio. She joined the Air Force in 2015 in search of travel and education opportunities. In August, she plans to switch Air Force careers and begin training in health care management.
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FAIRCHILD
Sun peeks through on base
PHOTOS BY DAN PELLE / THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Above: A KC-135 Stratotanker undergoes maintenance Feb. 14 at Fairchild Air Force Base.
FACES OF FAIRCHILD
1st Lt. Shanell Guardo
As the group practice manager at Fairchild’s medical clinic, Guardo handles the business side of health care. “I’m a numbers person,” said Guardo, who holds degrees in economics and business administration from East Carolina University. “My job is to match the patient with what they’re trying to buy.” Guardo, 31, grew up in a military family in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Her dad and husband served in the Army, and she did too before joining the Air Force in 2015. “We just have a love for troops,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what their uniforms look like.”
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You are our brothers and sisters. Our mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and neighbors. You are a vital thread in the fiber that ties our community together. Thank you for 75 years of serving and protecting our country.
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1944: The U.S. Air Force Base Fairchild Hanger is pictured.
BEFORE FAIRCHILD, IT WAS GALENA STATION
June 1945: Inland Empire engine repair workers at the Spokane Air Field represented their 600 fellow workers in offically turning over the 10,000th repaired engine to Brig. Gen. R. V. Ignico, commanding general of SPATSC. Left to right: Lee Allen, of Cheney; the general; Mrs. Evelyn Smith; Mrs. Elizabeth Scott.
By Mike Prager
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
November 1941 - Spokane businesses and citizens raise and donate $125,000 to buy the first 1,400 acres for an Army air maintenance and supply depot, helping Spokane land the facility over sites in Seattle and Everett. In addition, the site west of Spokane offered better weather conditions and a location 300 miles from the coast, with the Cascade Range acting as a natural barrier against possible Japanese attack. A few weeks later, the War Department authorizes $14 million for construction of what was then known as Galena Station. March 1942 - The Spokane Army Air Depot is activated under the Air Service Command; the base is designated Spokane Air Depot a month later. In 1943, its name is changed again to Spokane Army Air Field. Between its official activation and 1946, the base is used as a repair depot for damaged aircraft returning from war in the Pacific. On June 2, 1945, three women complete repair of the 10,000th B-17 engine. According to a base history, “in all, nearly 11,000 engines were overhauled at an estimated savings to the government of $87 million. The depot also served as a supply hub shipping more than 150,000 tons of material, with nearly 20 percent going overseas.” July 1947 - The 92nd Bombardment Group begins its move to Spokane. In September that year, the 98th Bombardment Group is reactivated and transferred to Spokane. The airfield is transferred to the Strategic Air Command that same month. Each bombardment group has 30 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, making Spokane Army Air Field the largest B-29 organization in
SPOKESMAN-REVIEW ARCHIVES
the Strategic Air Command. It’s later renamed again – Spokane Air Force Base. July 1950 - Both bombardment groups deploy to Korea that summer, but after a few months, the 92nd returns to the States while the 98th remains in Asia. In that short time, the 92nd’s bombers flew 836 combat sorties, dropping 33,000 bombs. The 98th is eventually reassigned to Nebraska. July 1951 - The air base is renamed for Muir S. Fairchild, a Bellingham, Washington, native who rose to vice chief of staff of the Air Force. He died of a heart
attack in 1950. April 1952 - Fifteen crew members are killed in the predawn takeoff of a B-36 bomber at Fairchild. In March 1954, a B-36 crashes on takeoff, killing seven. March 1957 - The first of 45 B-52 Stratofortresses is delivered to Fairchild in a conversion operation dubbed “Operation Big Switch.” Five days later, the last B-36 leaves the base. In December that year, a B-52 crashes in a field near Airway Heights a few minutes after takeoff, apparently because of faulty wiring. January 1958 - The Strategic Air Command orders around-
the-clock alerts in response to the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union. At Fairchild, two crews and bombers go on 24/7 alert status. February 1958 - The first KC-135 Stratotanker, the “Queen of the Inland Empire,” arrives at Fairchild as the “flying fuel station” for B-52s. The aircraft and a crew from the 92nd Air Refueling Squadron sets eight world records in September of that year. Sadly, that month also saw two B-52s collide while landing at Fairchild, killing 13 crew mem-
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1943: Women’s Army Corps at Spokane Army Air Field drill smartly and challenge the other post squadrons marching prowess. A large portable hangar may be seen in the background.
NASA
See TIMELINE, 9
January 1958: Sputnik 1
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October 1954: Maj. James E. McKay signals “all clear” from a B-36 bomber before taking off.
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1951: Miss Spokane, Glenda Bergen, was a big help to the 98th Bomb Group from Fairchild Air Force Base, pictured here. Although there are only 40 bombs on the nose of the B-29, the plane had flown 50 missions over Korea. The crew, based in Japan, had requested a photo of Miss Spokane as a model for the painting on their plane.
TIMELINE Continued from 8 bers and injuring three. September 1961 - The 92nd becomes the first “aerospace” wing in the nation with the deployment of nine Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles under the 567th Strategic Missile Squadron. According to a base history, “These ICBMs played an integral deterrence role in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. With the new role and the addition of missiles, the 92nd BW was redesignated the 92nd Strategic Aerospace Wing. However, rapid advancements in technology prompted the removal of the missiles in 1965.” September 1964 - The wing’s KC-135s become involved in the Vietnam War out of a base in the Philippines. The B-52s deploy to a base in Guam for bombing missions in Vietnam, including Operation Linebacker. Two bombers are lost during those operations. One crashes several miles off the runway at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, likely from a flight-instrument malfunction. The other, in December 1972, is the wing’s only loss of a B-52 in combat – during a nighttime raid on Hanoi, the plane is hit by enemy fire. Two of the crew are taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese and returned to the United States in 1973. The rest of the crew were listed as missing. The wing's nine-year involvement in Vietnam ended in October 1973. March 1966 - The 3636th Combat Crew Training Group is established at Fairchild and in 1971, the group took over all Air Force survival schools. July 1976 - The 141st Air Refueling Wing of the Washington Air National Guard is transferred to Fairchild and begins flying KC-135Es. May 1980 - Mount St. Helens erupts, sending ash over Spokane and hampering the base air show. September 1983 - The 92nd receives nuclear-tipped air
launch cruise missiles, the first version of air-launched cruise missiles. December 1983 - A B-52 on a training exercise catches fire on the runway at Fairchild while carrying nuclear missiles. The fire does not reach the nuclear material. It’s the base’s only known “bent spear,” an Air Force term for an incident involving a nuclear weapon in which no radiation escapes. October 1984 - A B-52 from Fairchild crashes into a mesa on the Navajo reservation in Arizona while practicing low-level maneuvers. One person is killed. Other crew members escape by ejecting. March 1987 - A KC-135 crashes at the base, killing six air crew members and a spectator. The plane was rehearsing for an upcoming air show. Just after takeoff, the plane is caught in wake turbulence from a B-52. The show was to be a debut of the Thunderhawks, which are later disbanded. August 1990 - Hundreds of Fairchild personnel are deployed
JESSE TINSLEY / THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
July 19, 2016: Most of the personnel at Fairchild Air Force Base attend the change of command ceremony on the flightline of the air field. Outgoing commander, Col. Charles B. McDaniel, handed over the reins of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing to Col. Ryan Samuelson. in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. In September 1991, Fairchild bombers come off round-the-clock alert for the first time in 33 years as
SPOKESMAN-REVIEW ARCHIVES
Nov. 25, 1963: Spokane-area servicemen, mostly Fairchild Air Force Base airmen, gathered in a base hangar to hear the official announcement of the death of their commader in chief, a tradition dating from the asssassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
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1983: Col. Donald E. Hillman, commander of the 92nd Bomb Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, flew a mission as an instructor pilot. Earphone chatter from planes as distant as Puerto Rico was monitored.
Cold War tensions ease. June 1994 - In one of the nation’s first mass shootings on a military base, Dean Mellberg goes on a rampage at the Fairchild base hospital, killing four people and wounding 23 others before being shot and killed by a military police officer. One of the wounded, who is pregnant, loses her unborn child. That same week, a B-52 crashes practicing for the Fairchild air show, killing the pilot and three other crew members. The air show is canceled. It was the last of the B-52s at the base, with the others departing a month earlier, ending Fairchild’s bomber mission after 47 years. The 92nd Bombardment Wing is redesignated the 92nd Air Refueling Wing. January 1999 - A Washington Air National Guard KC-135 tanker crashes on takeoff at Geilenkirchen Air Base, Germany. Four crew members are killed. May 2001 - Fairchild officials confirm that all nuclear weapons have been removed from the base. January 2005 - The 92nd Air Refueling Wing begins support operations at the Manas Transit Center in Kyrgyzstan. Fairchild supplies 80 percent of the mili-
tary aircraft and flight crews operating out of Manas, a key hub along one of the primary NATO supply routes into Afghanistan. The small base, located outside the Kyrgyzstan capital of Bishkek, is barely 400 miles from the Afghan border. October 2007 - The 92nd and 141st Air Refueling Wings hold a ceremony to mark their association under a total force intergration strategy. February 2011 - Fairchild closes its runway for a $44 million reconstruction. The wings operate temporarily out of Spokane and Moses Lake international airports. February 2014 - Operations in Kyrgyzstan end. Airmen from the 92d Air Refueling Wing flew more than 20,000 sorties over nearly 125,000 hours. They delivered nearly 1.5 billion pounds of fuel to more than 110,000 U.S. and coalition aircraft. January 2017 - The Air Force announces that the next two bases to get the KC-46A tanker, the next generation of air refueling jets, will be in New Jersey and California after Fairchild had been on the short list to receive the new planes.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 24, 1994: An Air Force B-52 jet is seen an instant before it crashes in flames at Fairchild Air Force Base, killing all four aboard.
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Forest Service, Fairchild uncover story behind jet wreckage in Colville National Forest At 300 knots – about 345 mph – the plane began rolling violently to the left. Seeley cut the throttle and tried several maneuvers, but the plane continued to roll. As it gained speed and rolled below 12,000 feet into the thick clouds, he determined there was no choice but to eject. The mountainous ground below, where the peaks were about 6,800 feet, was coming up fast.
By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
This article was originally published July 25, 2016. Maj. Charles Seeley had just completed a turn after his fourth pass of the “enemy target” and was in a controlled dive when the F-86A Sabre jet started to buck. Seeley, the executive officer of the Washington Air National Guard’s 116th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, was a member of a four-jet practice flight about 21,000 feet above northeastern Washington. Practicing maneuvers against a B-29, the jets “attacked” it from above and behind. The flight had been smooth after the jets scrambled off the runway at Geiger Air Field. But Seeley, at 37 a veteran pilot of World War II, had made some adjustments with the rudder and ailerons to keep his plane, serial number 48292N, level. At 300 knots – about 345 mph – the plane began rolling violently to the left. Seeley cut the throttle and tried several maneuvers, but the plane continued to roll. As it gained speed and rolled below 12,000 feet into the thick clouds, he determined there was no choice but to eject. The mountainous ground below, where the peaks were about 6,800 feet, was coming up fast. He pulled the lever once, twice and a third time before the canopy blew off. It glanced off his helmet, and Seeley shot out of the Sabre at 10,000 feet. His parachute opened and he began floating down through the clouds. It was March 23, 1955.
Crashes common
flight over northeastern Washington when another plane crashed? Yes, he said. Morrill had received his wings in 1949 and worked full time at the Guard as a flight training supervisor in 1955 when he flew on the training mission with Seeley, squadron commander Maj. Charles Nelson and Lt. Leo Arnold. He was mentioned in the story of the crash in The SpokesmanReview. That allowed O’Connell to track him down more than 60 years later. O’Connell and others from Fairchild visited the site in ear-
ly July with a Forest Service team and were able to identify the plane from markings that were still visible. Matching those numbers to the Aviation Archaeology website with information on almost all military crashes, O’Connell had a date. He checked the Google News Archive for the next day’s SpokesmanReview and got the report of the official crash investigation. Morrill left the guard in 1957 for a career in the Civil Aeronautics Administration, and retired from its successor, the Federal Avi-
ation Administration. At 88, he’s the sole remaining member of that mission and “I’m still hanging in,” he said. He remembers the F-86 fondly as a beautiful plane: “For the time, it was like a Cadillac.” The nation’s first sweptwing jet fighter, the Sabre, also known as a Sabrejet, was the dominant plane of the Korean War, with a maximum listed speed of 687 mph and six machine guns in the nose. Its pilots shot down 792 MiGs while See WRECKAGE, 11
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The hillside along Sherman Pass is shown in 2010 in the Colville National Forest. were more curious than surprised, said Franklin Pemberton, a spokesman for the Colville National Forest. “Every national forest I’ve ever worked in has one or two plane crashes. We didn’t know we had one in that area,” he said. The service sent out the Colville National Forest’s archaeologist to survey the site. Like many national forests, the Colville has numerous sites that were occupied by Native American tribes, as well as old homesteads and even some abandoned machinery from small mills. Archaeologists scout areas for historic significance before roads are built or timber is offered for sale. The area is so remote that hikers or hunters are unlikely to come upon it, Pemberton said. But there was a concern: If those were machine guns in the wreckage, does that mean there would also be ammunition, and perhaps even bombs? In checking the records, they discovered a major fire burned through the area in 1929-30, Pemberton said, so they knew the plane crashed after that. Because it was a military plane, they called contacts at Fairchild Air Force Base, which regularly uses the Colville for part of its survival training. Eventually they connected with Jim O’Connell, the 92nd Air Refueling Wing historian.
About two years ago, a survey crew from the U.S. Forest Service was checking a remote drainage area of Timber Mountain in the Colville National Forest south of Ione, Washington, when they made an unexpected find. Twisted wreckage of some type was showing among the stands of 85year-old timber, and had been there long enough for trees to grow around and through it. Closer inspection showed it was an airplane, with what seemed to be machine guns among the debris, clearly military. How long it had been there, the crew wasn’t sure. Forest Service records had no mention of a military plane crash in that section of the Colville, but the crash appeared to be from a time when records weren’t kept as carefully as they are In, out of the forest now. Maj. Seeley floated down Forest Service officials into the forest below the
clouds, where his parachute got hung up in a tree. He managed to make it to the ground, which was covered with about 3 feet of snow. That March was one of the region’s coldest on record and Seeley wasn’t in his winter gear, but he started walking in what he thought was the direction of a logging road he spotted during his descent. After about a half mile, he told The SpokesmanReview for the next morning’s paper, he found the road, and a short time later a logger in a truck found him. The logger took him to a branch road, and a bulldozer mechanic took him to Newport. By the time he reached Newport, members of the Air National Guard had arrived to take him to the hospital at Fairchild. He was bruised from the ejection, but the next day he told reporters the worst effect was a stiff neck. By then, search teams had spotted the crash site in the deep snow on a mountainside, and one pilot from the training flight who had also gone to Newport to pick up Seeley, 1st Lt. Hal Morrill, would accompany investigators to the wreckage.
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A recent phone call Morrill was at home in northeast Spokane recently when he got a call from Fairchild Air Force Base, asking if he was the same Hal Morrill who was a pilot in the Washington Air National Guard in 1955. He said he was. Was he on a
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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
FAIRCHILD
TYLER TJOMSLAND / THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Hal Morrill poses for a photo July 21 in front of a framed photo of F-86A jets in his home office in Spokane.
COURTESY OF FAIRCHILD
Lt. Dallas Sartz, left, Lt. Hal Morrill at the crash site in 1955.
WRECKAGE Continued from 10
losing only 78 Sabres, and all but one of the U.S. pilots who achieved the status of ace flew the F-86. After the war, it became a mainstay of Air Guard fighter units. Morrill remembers the mission and Seeley going into a rapid, spinning descent. “Then I lost him in the clouds and didn’t see the airplane hit.” But a few days later, Morrill saw the crash site. Someone took a picture of him and another officer standing in front of the crater the jet made when it hit. “We went in on snowshoes, it was so rugged,” he recalled. In the snow they found a wing, the engine and debris scattered over a wide area. But he could definitely put to rest any fears by the Forest Service that the plane may have carried ammunition or bombs. There wouldn’t be any for a training mission, he said, something the accident report O’Connell obtained confirms.
Likely cause was structural defect The Air Force convened an investigation board, interviewing Seeley and other pilots on the flight as well as other officers. Less than two weeks later, it released its conclusions: Seeley had done everything possible to recover from the spin, and stayed with his aircraft as long as possible under the circumstances. The plane may have had a structural defect that caused it to go into the uncontrollable roll, but the board couldn’t be sure because 48-292N was too badly damaged in the crash. Pilots in the fighter wing were ordered to abort
Morrill’s story topped list of 2016 favorites for Spokesman-Review reporter Jim Camden Sometimes a good story just drops in your lap, like when a person emailed to suggest we write about his grandfather Hal Morrill, who was helping the Forest Service figure out how the wreckage of a fighter plane wound up on a mountainside in the Colville National Forest. Morrill knew because as a young lieutenant, he was the wingman for Maj. Charles Seeley, whose Air National Guard F-86A Sabre jet went down there in 1955. Folks had pretty much forgotten that crash, and the forest had grown up around what was left of the plane. A Forest Service crew stumbled across the wreckage, and with the help of the Fairchild Air Force Base historian, the service pieced together the details of the crash. They also tracked down Morrill, who was mentioned in The Spokesman-Review the day after the crash. Retired now, he still lives in northeast Spokane. He later wrote to say he was pleasantly surprised to find a photo of himself on the front page the day the story ran. Jim Camden
flights in their F-86s when similar situations occurred, and safety directors were asked to contact headquarters about possible maneuvers to pull out of the roll. Two weeks later, another pilot in the wing had an almost identical experience in another F-86, but was able to pull it out before the jet reached an agreed-upon bailout altitude of 8,000 feet. An investigation showed there were short-circuits in some of the aileron switches in the cockpit. The investigation board ordered the Washington Air Guard to send a team back to the wreckage site “as soon as snow conditions permit” to see if
more could be discovered about the cause of the crash. There’s no record of whether they made the trip, but if they did, the terrain was likely too steep and access too difficult to remove the pieces. Having lain on the side of Timber Mountain for more than 60 years, the Forest Service and the Air Force are not going to disturb the wreckage of 48-292N. It’s now an archaeological site, and they won’t put up a marker or reveal the exact location, to keep souvenir hunters from trying to hike in and pull out pieces. CONTACT THE WRITER:
(509) 879-7461 jimc@spokesman.com
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FEBRUARY 26, 2017
FAIRCHILD
Base decision for next-generation tankers to shift Fairchild’s role Officials are hopeful the base will get more planes, pilots By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
For more than a decade local and state officials lobbied to bring the nation’s newest military tanker to Fairchild Air Force Base to ensure its long-term future. That didn’t happen; three other bases were chosen instead. But officials say those decisions are not a death knell for the county’s largest employer. In fact, the base could get more planes and the people needed to fly them. The last time Fairchild got the newest planes in the nation’s military inventory, Dwight Eisenhower was the president and Nikita Khrushchev was consolidating his control of the Soviet Union. Elvis was about to be drafted, the Dodgers were leaving Brooklyn and the Hula Hoop was about to make the Wham-O toy company a fortune. The year was 1958, and as the home to the B-52 Stratofortress, Fairchild was assigned a squadron of brand new KC-135 Stratotankers to keep the bombers in the air long enough to reach targets halfway across the world. “Strato-” was a big deal in 1958, signifying that the planes would fly way up in the stratosphere, out of range of Soviet missiles. That was before the Pentagon discovered that Soviet missiles could indeed reach that far, and revised their tactics to have the planes fly really low, to stay under Soviet radar. Nearly 60 years later, the B-52s are gone and the KC-135s are the mainstays of the base. For 15 years, local business leaders and members of the state’s congressional delegation saw replacing those Eisenhower-era tankers as key to keeping the base open into the foreseeable future. But in 2014 Fairchild finished second to a base in Kansas to be the first home of the KC-46A. And in January the Pentagon said the next two bases for that plane will be in New Jersey and Delaware, barring some unexpected environmental problem that forces the Air Force to shift gears. Without those next-generation planes, Fairchild could be considered an easy target for some future base closure commission – despite all the new tankers rolling off the Boeing assembly line in Everett that are spoken for until sometime in the mid-2020s. But no such commission is scheduled, and without the process that surrounds a commission, Congress rarely has the political will to close a base – let alone one that has had hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements in the
DAN PELLE / THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Tech. Sgt. David Carney checks a 50-year-old KC-135 parked on the flightline at Fairchild Air Force Base in this Feb. 29, 2008, file photo.
DAN PELLE / THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Then-CEO of Greater Spokane Incorporated Rich Hadley, along with U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, shouted “Forward Fairchild” during a 2012 gathering at the GSI to show support for Fairchild Air Force Base becoming a home for the new KC-46A refueling tankers. Fairchild was ultimately passed over. last several decades. Fairchild’s KC-135s aren’t really the same planes sent to the base in 1958. They have new engines, new avionics and other upgrades, and they don’t just refuel America’s dwindling numbers of B-52s. Practically every aircraft in the nation’s military inventory, as well as many U.S. allies’ airplanes, now need refueling. The Air Force’s need to refuel lots of planes, in lots of locations all over the world, may be more important to Fairchild’s continued existence than becoming the home to a new plane. In announcing the new homes for the KC-46A, the Air Force said it also needs someplace to send the KC-135s they are replacing. Although they are old, the Air Force believes with proper maintenance, some of the older tankers can remain in service until 2040 and as many as 25
FILE / THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
Five of the 141st Air Refueling Wing’s KC-135s flew in formation over Fairchild Air Force Base in July 2007. more KC-135s could be sent to Fairchild. While not giving up completely on questioning the Air Force’s machinations that led to its latest KC-46A basing decisions,Washington officials like Sen. Patty Murray are touting Fairchild’s advantages for being a new “tanker super base.” It’s the closest major tanker facility to Asia, where the military is expected to direct more attention, and in a key location to assist Air Force and Navy operations throughout the West Coast. Fairchild also has the capacity for the extra planes,
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because in the mid 1990s, after the B-52s left, the base was the nation’s largest tanker base with more than 60 KC-135s. State officials are also looking for other assignments for the base, including the prospect of sending Navy fighters to Fairchild if the Puget Sound is assigned another aircraft carrier. Because the Puget Sound’s airspace is crowded with commercial jets at Sea-Tac Airport and Boeing Field, and Air Force cargo jets at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the Navy currently keeps fighters at California bases when the carriers are in their home ports,
so keeping some at Fairchild would actually be closer to their ships. While that would be a new role for the base, Fairchild has taken on many new assignments since it was first built as a repair station for B-17s in World War II. It evolved into the home to active-duty bombers, then added active-duty tankers and later a wing of National Guard tankers. Then the bombers left. Along the way it gained and lost air-defense missiles and was considered as a home for a new intercontinental ballistic missile that was never built.
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
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FAIRCHILD
Fairchild had nuclear weapons for nearly 50 years confirmed the plane was not carrying weapons.
By Jim Camden THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
This article was originally published May 6, 2001. For nearly half a century, Spokane sat at Ground Zero. The West Plains had more nuclear weapons than most countries had in their entire arsenals. For much of that time, bombers sat on the flightline at Fairchild Air Force Base with hydrogen bombs in their bellies or nucleartipped missiles on their wings, ready to launch with 15 minutes notice. When John F. Kennedy stared down Nikita Khrushchev over Cuba, Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles in West Plains silos were poised to send their nuclear warheads over the pole. Although the Atlas missiles were quickly outdated and removed, the bombers outlasted the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. Even when the B-52s left in 1994 because Fairchild became an all-tanker facility, some of the nukes stayed behind, stashed securely in bunkers and igloos on the south side of the base. But Spokane is no longer a nuclear power. The last of its bombs left quietly in the last year or so. The Air Force won’t say exactly when they left, just as it didn’t announce when they arrived. But they are gone, a Fairchild spokesman confirmed last week. Spokane’s nuclear era went out, not with a bang thankfully or even a whisper.
Nuclear proliferation Fairchild bombers were not Spokane’s only source of nuclear armaments during the Cold War. The Air Force put Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles in silos around the West Plains in 1961. The Atlas E could carry its 4-megaton warhead some 6,500 miles in about 45 minutes. A megaton is the explosive force of 1 million tons of TNT. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had an estimated force of only 15,000 tons. Less than four years later, the Atlas system was declared obsolete and replaced with bigger and fasSPOKESMAN-REVIEW ARCHIVES ter Minuteman missiles. Dressed in battleship gray and white nuclear reflective paint, the pride of the nation’s bomber fleet was at The West Plains silos were Fairchild AFB in 1965, lined up for takeoff. In the foreground is Amarillo’s pride, a B-52 from Amarillo AFB, Texas. emptied. Washington’s Air National Guard unit, which nounce when the first bigger bombers – the B-29s the crash said in 1991. The was then based nearby at atomic bomb arrived at were replaced by B-36s in flight manifest obtained by In the beginning Eastern Washington Fairchild. For decades it 1951, which were replaced The Spokesman-Review See WEAPONS, 14 helped give birth to the refused to confirm the by B-52s in 1956. It preatomic age. Work conduc- existence of any nuclear sumably got bigger and ted at the Hanford Nuclear weapons at any base, at any newer bombs along the way. Reservation helped create time. On Dec. 12, 1957, a FairBut in September 1953, a the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945. A base official told the child B-52 lost control just few years later, the West Chamber of Commerce the after takeoff, crashing and Serving patients and caregivers since 1974. Plains air base, which was city was a “primary target” burning in a nearby field. Many B-52s at that time eventually named Fair- for the Soviets, who by child, became the home to then had their own nuclear routinely flew armed with nuclear weapons so that weapons. a fleet of B-29 bombers. City Commissioner Carl the United States could The bombers were part of the new Strategic Air Canwell, who was also the strike back quickly if it was Command, formed in 1947, area’s civil defense admin- attacked. For nearly 35 which would counter a istrator, said he regretted years, anti-nuclear groups much larger Soviet military Spokane was in the bull’s- and even some U.S. Valley Mission Homecare Pharmacy ground force if the two for- eye but was glad the fact government sources listed Founded by former Air Force Captain and USAF Hospital mer allies ever went to was finally out in the open. the crash as a nuclear acciChief of Pharmacy Services, 1968-71, Bob Redmond “For a long time, I’ve dent. war. One equalizer was the But the plane was on a atomic bomb, on which the known we’ve been sitting United States temporarily on an atomic bomb pile,” routine training mission and was not carrying any Canwell said that day. had a monopoly. Fairchild got newer and bombs, the sole survivor of Medications • Mobility • Rentals • Ostomy • Wound Care The Air Force didn’t an-
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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
FAIRCHILD FACES OF FAIRCHILD
Staff Sgt. Stephon Sharief
It takes steady hands and intense focus to do Sharief’s job. Lying on his chest in the back of a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, he controls the boom that injects fuel into another airborne plane – while both aircraft are traveling at 350 mph. One mistake can be costly. If the boom touches anything but the intended fuel port, it can scratch a plane’s multimillion-dollar stealth paint job. “Essentially, the pilots in front expect you to be the expert in the back of the aircraft,” said Sharief, 28, who has been a boom operator for four years. He grew up in a military family in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and now lives in Mead. He enjoys snowboarding on Mount Spokane.
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This ICBM was on display at a 1962 open house at Fairchild Air Force Base.
WEAPONS Continued from 13
Geiger Air Force Base, also had nuclear weapons for a while. In the 1960s, the fighter-interceptor squadron was issued F-101 Voodoos, and with them came a missile called the Genie. The Genie was designed to knock Russian bombers out of the sky from as far away as nine miles. It carried a nuclear warhead estimated at 1.5 kilotons – 1,500 tons of TNT. The Guard didn’t announce when it was issued nuclear missiles, either. But in 1974, when two officers were suspended, a Guard official mentioned the concern over the security of the Genie nuclear missiles. The fact that the Guard even had nuclear missiles came as news to Henry Jackson, who at the time was probably the most powerful member of the U.S. Senate when it came to military issues. The Pentagon confirmed that some Guard units were issued nuclear weapons. That policy was later changed, and only activeduty Air Force units were allowed to control nuclear weapons. In an unrelated move, the Air Guard unit stopped flying fighters and started flying KC-135 tankers. Spokane’s primary nuclear arsenal, however, was always connected to the bomber wing headquartered at Fairchild. In the 1950s, the bombs got bigger. Some of them may have had an explosive force of 20 megatons or more – enough to wipe out an entire metropolitan area, even without a direct hit. Then they got more accurate, which allowed them to get smaller. In the 1970s, the bombers were also issued Short Range Attack Missiles – which were carried on the wings and could be launched at programmed targets 100 miles away. The SRAMs were followed by the cruise missiles, which flew lower, faster, farther and with a bigger warhead. When the Air Force announced in 1982 it was sending 300 cruise missiles to Fairchild, it was de facto announcing the base had nuclear weapons. At the time, that type of cruise missile only came in a nuclear version, with a 200-kiloton warhead. The reaction to the cruise missiles was mixed. Anti-nuclear activists held a Christmastime candlelight vigil at the base gate, and prayed for peace. They returned almost every December throughout the 1980s.
“For a long time, I’ve known we’ve been sitting on an atomic bomb pile.”
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City Commissinoer Carl Canwell Speaking in September 1953, adding that he regretted Spokane was in the bull’s-eye
The summer after the cruise missiles arrived, one Fairchild squadron set up a dummy missile at the base open house, and raised money for a local charity by taking pictures of people “riding” the missile, much like actor Slim Pickens rode a bomb in the movie “Dr. Strangelove.” That only happened once. Public reaction to a picture of the picture-taking that appeared in The Spokesman-Review prompted base officials to order the squadron to find another way to raise money.
The real danger American nuclear weapons have enough safety devices that an accident will not set off a nuclear blast. But they do carry radioactive material that can contaminate the surrounding area if it is carried by the smoke from a fire or scattered by a fuel explosion. Despite decades of loading and unloading bombs and missiles, Fairchild weapons crews never had a serious incident and a Fairchild bomber never crashed with a nuclear weapon on board. But it did have one close call. On a bitterly cold morning in December 1983, a Fairchild bomber loaded with SRAMs caught fire as it was taxiing down the runway. The fire quickly spread from the wheelwell to the fuselage. Air traffic controllers in the tower used the term for a nuclear accident – “call a broken arrow” – when calling for firefighters. The fire crew extinguished the fire before it ignited the fuel in the missiles. Base officials refused to acknowledge the bomber was armed with nuclear weapons – permissible because no nuclear material was released. But the Air Force awarded 29 firefighters special achievement medals for “working under adverse weather conditions and ... the aircraft’s weapon system.” A copy of the plane’s manifest, included in the accident report, said the plane was loaded with SRAMs. In 1990, members of Congress convinced the Pentagon to retire the SRAMs to inactive storage. Among those writing to then-Defense Secretary
Dick Cheney was Spokane’s Rep. Tom Foley.
A new building for Fairchild The Air Force still does not announce where it keeps nuclear weapons. It’s a pretty safe bet that there are bombs and missiles wherever B-52 and B-2 bombers are stationed. But some additional storage was necessary after the bomber fleet was reduced in the 1990s. Nuclear munitions workers remained at Fairchild when the bombers left in 1994. In 1998, the Natural Resources Defense Council did a study of government documents and estimated Fairchild had about 85 bombs in storage. The Air Force didn’t comment. But last week, Fairchild announced plans to build a new administration building for people who maintain the weaponry. As base construction projects go, it’s relatively small – from $1 million to $3 million for a one-story, 12,200-square-foot brick building that would be far enough from the rows of weapon-filled bunkers to meet new Air Force safety regulations. In discussing the building, which should be complete by 2003, Maj. Perrin Ashmore, a base spokesman, acknowledged there are no more nuclear weapons in the bunkers. “We still store some munitions here,” Ashmore said. “There are the basic bullets.” There are also storage igloos with non-nuclear air-launched cruise missiles, he added. What about nuclear weapons? “No,” Ashmore said. He wouldn’t comment on when or how they left. Robert Norris, who researches nuclear issues for the defense council, said they likely were ferried on special planes to bomber bases in Louisiana, Missouri or North Dakota, or to a storage facility in New Mexico. The council has not updated its study, and Norris was unaware they had left. If the anti-nuclear forces don’t know the bombs are gone and the Air Force isn’t making a big deal out of it, that raises a question. Has anyone called the Russians to tell them Spokane no longer has the bomb, so we can be taken off the hit list?
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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW
FEBRUARY 26, 2017
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FAIRCHILD MORE FACES OF FAIRCHILD
1st Lt. Daniel Reed
Reed has been in the Air Force for 18 years. For the first 14, he was assigned to a special operations unit called the Tactical Air Control Party. Often embedding with Army ground troops, Reed completed missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Macedonia, Qatar, Kuwait and “a few classified locations,” he said. Reed arrived at Fairchild in 2015 and now oversees maintenance for half of the base’s fleet. That involves scheduling when each part of an aircraft will need to be repaired or replaced. “You have to schedule it,” he said. “Otherwise you end up with a bunch of planes that don’t fly and you don’t know why.”
Staff Sgt. Windham McSwain
As a specialist in Fairchild’s Equal Opportunity Office, McSwain said his goal is “to eradicate unlawful discrimination.” To do that, he coordinates human resources training, counseling and other services for Air Force employees. “This is the best job in the military because it’s so people-oriented,” said McSwain, a gregarious 25-year-old from Albany, Georgia, who previously worked in plane maintenance. “I’ve always wanted to join the military,” he said. “I’m the first one in my family, so it’s a bit of a culture shock.”
Capt. Cody Hoylman
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Hoylman, a native of St. Petersburg, Florida, has wanted to fly planes since he was child. His grandfather served in three branches of the military and regularly brought him to air shows at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. “It’s pretty much the reason I went to college,” said Hoylman, 28, who served in the ROTC at the University of South Florida. He’s now a pilot in the 92nd Air Refueling Wing and has flown missions in Turkey, Afghanistan and Qatar. He and his wife, who also works in the Air Force, live on the South Hill and enjoy Spokane’s unique restaurant scene. “Me and my wife are big foodies,” he said, “so it’s awesome.”
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If you’re in the military you won’t be alone in the Eagle Ridge community. As many of you move around a lot, we understand your need to feel comfortable in your new home. We make it easy to make new friends with year round community activities like the annual Easter Egg Hunt, Movies in the park, the community BBQ, pictures with Santa, and of course Military Appreciation Day. Located just 16 miles from the Fairchild Air Force base with parks and trails to help you relax when you get home, it’s easy to see why so many military families call Eagle Ridge their home. MODELS OPEN DA ILY. 935 W Basalt Ridge Drive, Spokane, WA 99224 509.443.2222
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Newland Communities is the largest private developer of planned residential and urban mixed-use communities in the United States from coast-to-coast. Together with our partner, North America Sekisui House, LLC, we believe it is our responsibility to create enduring, healthier communities for people to live life in ways that matter most to them. www.newlandcommunities.com and www.nashcommunities.com This is not intended to be an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to buy real estate in Eagle Ridge to residents of Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Oregon, or in any other jurisdiction where prohibited by law. No guarantee can be made that completion of the Eagle Ridge community will proceed as described. THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE HAS NOT QUALIFIED, INSPECTED, OR EXAMINED THIS OFFERING. NASH Eagle Ridge, LLC (“Fee Owner(s)”) is the owner and developer of the Eagle Ridge Community (“Community”). Certain homebuilders unaffiliated with the Fee Owner or its related entities (collectively, “Eagle Ridge”) are building homes in the Community (“Builder(s)”). Fee Owner has retained Newland Communities solely as the property manager for the Community. North America Sekisui House has an interest in one of the members in Fee Owner. Newland Communities and North America Sekisui House are not co-developing, co-building or otherwise responsible for any of the obligations or representations of any of the Builders, and shall have no obligations to any buyer regarding a home purchase from a Builder. Purchasers of homes from any of the Builders waive any claims against Newland Communities and/or North America Sekisui House arising out of their purchase transaction. Prices, speci cations, details, and availability of a Builder’s new homes are subject to change without notice. © 2017 Eagle Ridge. All Rights Reserved. Eagle Ridge is a trademark of NASH Eagle Ridge, LLC, and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without prior written permission.
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THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW