20 years in the making

Published June 1, 2012
By Senior Airman Benjamin Stratton
92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Twenty years ago marked the end of an era for the Air Force and the beginning to a new age in air superiority.

Fairchild, along with Grand Forks and McConnell AFBs, became the three tanker bases assigned to Air Mobility Command in the years following when the Military Airlift Command and Strategic Air Command were inactivated at the end of the Cold War.

This deactivation on June 1, 1992, marked the birth to AMC and a two year shift for Team Fairchild from flying heavy bomber missions with the B-52H Stratofortress under Air Combat Command to fulfilling its current role as AMC's premier refueling wing in the nation's Northwest. It was on July 1, 1994, when the then 92nd Bomb Wing, fulfilling a dual bombing and refueling role, was re-designated as the 92nd Air Refueling Wing. The wing is capable of maintaining an air bridge across the nation and the world in support of U.S. and allied forces.

AMC is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. Elements of the two deactivated organizations, MAC's worldwide airlift system and SAC's KC-10 and KC-135 tanker force, combined to form AMC.

The command provides worldwide cargo and passenger delivery, air refueling and aeromedical evacuation. The command also transports humanitarian supplies to hurricane, flood and earthquake victims both at home and around the world.

Currently, there are more than 134,000 active-duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and DOD civilians who make the command's rapid global mobility operations possible. Officials said these operations would not be possible without the continued support and efforts of Fairchild Airmen and their families.

[Editor's Note: The AMC public affairs office contributed to this article.]