Bill favors keeping Fairchild copters

The Air Force should keep four rescue helicopters at Fairchild, the Senate Appropriations Committee said Wednesday.

The committee passed the 2008 Defense Appropriations bill, with a line that says the panel “encourages” the Air Force to keep the four UN-1N Huey helicopters and the 30 people who fly and service them at the West Plains base, where they are assigned to the Survival School.

The helicopters with the 36th Rescue Flight have been used to perform hundreds of civilian rescues throughout the Northwest. News early this year that the Air Force was thinking of reassigning them to other bases prompted concern among local law enforcement officials and heavy lobbying by the region’s congressional delegation to keep them at Fairchild.

“This will help the 36th Rescue Flight continue its critical work supporting the survival school and performing life-saving civilian search-and-rescue operations throughout our region,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of the committee who added the amendment to the defense spending bill.

The bill doesn’t set aside the $3.9 million which the Air Force says the 36th Rescue Flight costs at Fairchild. A spokeswoman for Murray said there was no specific amount in the defense budget because Air Force officials told the committee that they could move the money from elsewhere in their budget, which totals about $110 billion.

“This is just there to remind them of their commitments,” Murray spokeswoman Alex Glass said.

The House has previously passed legislation with language directing the helicopters remain at Fairchild. The Senate will vote on its defense spending bill in the coming weeks.

The Senate’s $459 billion defense spending bill covers military salaries, new planes, ammunition, research and more.

It proposes some $50 million in spending for defense research in Washington, including about $3 million for programs connected to Washington State University. It has another $39 million for defense research in Idaho, including some $5.5 million for programs at the University of Idaho, and $5 million for programs at the Navy’s underwater research facility at Bayview.