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Fairchild AFB wins Omaha Trophy for second straight year

Col. Ryan Samuelson, center, holds up the silver Omaha Trophy, awarded for the second year in a row to Fairchild Air Force Base, alongside Vice Adm. Charles “Chas” Richard, to right of Samuelson, and hundreds of airmen, Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, at FAFB at a gathering to celebrate the second award of the trophy, which recognizes excellence. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Col. Ryan Samuelson, center, holds up the silver Omaha Trophy, awarded for the second year in a row to Fairchild Air Force Base, alongside Vice Adm. Charles “Chas” Richard, to right of Samuelson, and hundreds of airmen, Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, at FAFB at a gathering to celebrate the second award of the trophy, which recognizes excellence. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
By Nicholas Deshais nickd@spokesman.com(509) 459-5440

For the second year in a row, Fairchild Air Force Base and the 92nd Refueling Wing won the prestigious Omaha Trophy, the first time in the award’s 46 year history that a wing has won in back-to-back years.

The consecutive win is “literally unheard of,” said Navy Vice Admiral Charles “Chas” Richard, who delivered the trophy to the base.

Nearly 500 Air Force personnel gathered in a World War II-era hangar on the base for the brief ceremony Friday morning. Richard, who spoke to the crowd, stood in his blue camouflage uniform, in stark contrast with the sea of slate gray camouflage worn by the airmen in the audience.

“I cannot tell y’all how proud I am … of every member of the team in the wings here at Fairchild,” Richard said. “I am simply blown away by your performance.”

The award is given annually to the top performance in strategic aircraft operations. Fairchild received it three times before, in 1999, 2002 and last year.

The large silver cup was originally created in 1971 by the Strategic Command Consultation Committee, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska. At the time, a single trophy was presented annually in appreciation of the command’s best wing, but it has been expanded to recognize five different operations that best support its strategic deterrence, space and cyberspace missions within the U.S. Strategic Command.

Fairchild competed against other units under the strategic command, including refueling, reconnaissance and airborne communications.

The U.S. Strategic Command conducts global operations in coordination with other commands, services and U.S. government agencies to deter and detect strategic attacks against the U.S., its allies and other partners.

The act of deterrence is taken for granted and can seem academic, Richard said. The increasingly tense stance between North Korea and the United States, however, shows its importance, he said.

“If you’re paying attention to the Pacific, maybe it isn’t so academic,” Richard said. “Attacking us is their most miserable choice.”

Col. Ryan Samuelson, commander of the base, echoed Richard’s remarks, and tied Fairchild’s efforts with those done when the cavernous hangar was built 74 years ago.

“You today are fame’s favored few,” he said. “The deterrent effect of what you do is mission number one.”