Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington

   Fairchild Air Force Base, located near Spokane, in eastern Washington, started out life as the Spokane Army Air Depot back in 1940. Local business owners and citizens raised the money in order to bring the base to Spokane. The base was renamed in 1951 in honor of General Muir S. Fairchild. 

   Fairchild was at one time home to the 92^nd Bomb Group, flying the B-29 Superfortress. The base also supported the B-36 Peacemaker for a time in the early 1950’s. The base became home to B-25 bombers in 1956 and KC-135 tankers in 1958. During the Cold War, a ring of nine Atlas intercontinental ballistic missiles silos surrounded Spokane and Fairchild Air Force Base. These were operational from 1961 through 1965, as part of the Air Force’s 567^th Missile Squadron. The bombers moved away in 1993, making aerial refueling the base’s primary operational function.

   In addition to the tankers, Fairchild is home to the Air Force Survival School. The 336^th Training Group teaches SERE tactics, Survival - Evasion -  Resistance - Escape. Some of the real-world training takes place in the nearby Coleville National Forest.

   The base itself is served by a VHF P-25 digital trunked radio system. This system was a Motorola system years ago (the last time I was at the base), but has since been upgraded to a true, P-25 system. Base personnel that I spotted with radios seemed to be using mostly Motorola APX radios. The system appears to be a single site with no networking to anywhere else, but with the recent trend of military base radio systems being networked with other bases, I would not be surprised if that happened in the future here at Fairchild. Here are the specifics of the base trunked system:

Fairchild Air Force Base

System ID       5E1

WACN            BEE00

Site 001

138.0250

138.0375

138.0625

138.1375

138.1625

138.3375

138.3625

138.4125

138.4375

138.5125                                                                    

   In addition to the trunked system, there are a number of VHF and UHF conventional frequencies allocated to the base. While on base for the 2017 Skyfest air show (more on that later), I spotted a variety of antennas on hangers, buildings and small towers located all over the base. I have confirmed a few of the UHF air band frequencies, and have information that some of the VHF channels are being used for the USAF Survival School training. Here is a compilation of my database of conventional frequencies for Fairchild Air Force Base, as well as some Washington National Guard frequencies from nearby Spokane International Airport (KGEG):

118.3000         AM     Spokane (GEG) Tower

120.3500         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Tower

121.8500

121.9000         AM     Spokane (GEG) Ground

122.9500         AM     Spokane (GEG) Unicom

123.6000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Ground

123.7500         AM     Spokane (GEG) Approach/Departure

124.3000         AM     Spokane (GEG) Approach/Departure

124.3250         AM     Spokane (GEG) ATIS

124.7000         AM     Spokane (GEG) Approach/Departure

126.2000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Tower (alternate)

133.3500         AM     Spokane (GEG) Approach/Departure

134.1000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Radar Approach

139.3000         AM     Pilot-To-Dispatch

139.3500         AM     Survival School helicopter

139.6250         FM      Survival School

139.8250         FM      Survival School

139.8750

141.7500

141.9000

142.2250         FM      Survival School Operations

143.8250

148.2250

149.1500

149.1750         FM      Survival School Operations

149.3000

150.0750

150.1250

150.1500

150.1750

150.2000         FM      Survival Operations Repeater

150.2250

150.2500

150.2750

150.3000

150.3250

150.3500

150.3750

150.4000

150.4750

150.5250

150.6500

150.6750

163.2750

163.4625

163.4875

163.5125

163.5875

164.5000

165.1625

173.4375

173.5125

173.5375

173.5625

173.5875

233.7000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Tower

234.8000         AM     PMSV Weather

236.0000         AM     Survival Training

238.3000         AM     Maintenance

239.0250         AM     Washington Army Guard helicopters

240.1500         AM     SOF - Supervisor of Flying

240.5000         AM

251.9000         AM     Survival Rescue Training

253.4000         AM     Maintenance

254.3750         AM     Spokane (GEG) ATIS

254.7000         AM     Survival Training

256.4000

257.6250         AM     Fairchild (SKA) ATIS

263.0000         AM     Spokane (GEG) Approach/Departure

269.2500         AM     Fairchild (SKA) ATC

275.8000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Ground

278.3000         AM     Spokane (GEG) Tower

282.2500         AM     Spokane (GEG) Approach/Departure

289.6000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Tower (alternate)

293.7000         AM     Maintenance Operations

301.6000         AM     Survival School Training

314.3000         AM     Training

311.0000         AM     Command Post STRIKEHAWK

321.0000         AM     Command Post STRIKEHAWK

339.3000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Radar Approach

348.6000         AM     Spokane (GEG) Ground

359.0000         AM     Training

363.8000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Radar Approach

372.2000         AM     Pilot-To-Dispatch

372.5000         AM    

375.2000         AM     USAF METRO

381.3000         AM     Command Post

384.9000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Radar Approach

385.0000         FM      Army Guard

387.4875         FM      Army Guard

388.8500         AM     Maintenance

389.8000         AM     Fairchild (SKA) Radar Approach

389.9125         FM      Army Guard

396.9000         AM     ANG Command Post 141ARW

407.4500         FM

413.0000         FM

413.4500         FM

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