Officials try to save helicopters

The Washington and Idaho congressional delegations are stepping up efforts to keep the helicopter rescue squadron at Fairchild Air Force Base.

A pair of letters sent today to Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services committees ask that Congress prevent the Pentagon from moving the 36th Rescue Squadron out of the region.

“The loss of these helicopters will impact the search-and-rescue capabilities of the region and the effectiveness of the Air Force Survival School,” Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., a member of the House committee, said in a statement released with the Washington state delegation’s letter.

“This is a tough budget year, but removing these life-saving helicopters is not an option that should be on the table,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in a separate prepared statement.

A formal request accompanying the letters asks the committees to add language to the massive Defense Authorization bill that tells the Air Force to leave the squadron at Fairchild and directs $3.7 million to be added to the budget to pay for it, a spokeswoman for McMorris Rodgers said.

The letters point out that along with its military duties at Air Force Survival School, the helicopter squadron has rescued hundreds of civilians in the Inland Northwest in the 30 years it has been located at Fairchild.

The squadron has been stationed at Fairchild since 1973 to be used in search-and-rescue exercises at the Survival School, which trains all flight crews in the Air Force. But its four UH-NI Hueys also are made available for civilian rescue operations in the region because they are equipped with vertical hoists and night vision equipment.

The squadron has a staff of 30, a combination of military personnel and civilian contractors.

The House Armed Services Committee will probably take up the request in April when it considers the main defense bill, spokeswoman Jill Strait said.

One letter includes all 11 members of the Washington delegation, plus Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon. The other is signed by Idaho Republican Sens. Larry Craig and Mike Crapo and Rep. Bill Sali.

“We’re pleased by the support by the entire delegation,” Strait said.