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Leadership visits Moses Lake for a purpose

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Janelle Patiño
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MOSES LAKE, Wash. --  The 92nd Air Refueling Wing leadership visited Fairchild's old stomping grounds in Moses Lake, Wash., Sept. 23 to 24.

During the visit, Col. Brian Newberry, 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander, his wife, Jill, and Chief Master Sgt. Wendy Hansen, 92nd ARW command chief, were introduced to a multitude of community citizens including a state senator, state representatives, the city council and the chamber of commerce.

"We invited the commander, his wife and command chief to showcase what our community is all about," said Mr. Dennis Clay, Columbia Basin Herald columnist. "We also want to keep the connection with Fairchild going."

Moses Lake and Fairchild have a strong connection. While the new runway was under construction in 2011, Fairchild operated all of its tankers out at Moses Lake and Spokane International Airport for 11 months.

"We have two honorary commanders from there and their support of our base with our runway closure was pivotal to our mission success," Newberry said. "Meeting Moses Lake citizens who expressed their appreciation for Fairchild Airmen and how excellent they were as guests in 2011 was, for me, the best part of our visit."

According to Newberry, their visit to Moses Lake was an excellent one. They had the opportunity to brief many different organizations including the Rotary Club, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Chamber of Commerce, the Port Authority and Grant County International Airport, telling them about Fairchild's mission and the Inland Northwest's incredible support of that mission.

"We got to see how well the community took care of our Airmen when we had deployed operations there," said Newberry. "The Chief and I left with an incredibly good impression of their small town values and love of military inherent in this strong community."

It was amazing to see how resilient as a community Moses Lake is and how they're a proud patriotic partner to Fairchild, Newberry said.