Members of the 384th Air Refueling Squadron salute during the ceremony to mark the joining of their squadron to the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Colonel Todd Cargle, second from left, the commander of the 92nd Air Refueling Wings Operations Group, and Lt. Col. Sean McClune, commander of the 384th Air Refueling Squadron, watch as the 384th’s guidon flag is unfurled during the ceremony to mark the joining of their squadron to the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Col. Todd Cargle, left, hands the guidon flag from the 384th Air Refueling Squadron to the unit’s commander, Lt. Col. Sean McClune, right, during the ceremony to mark the day that the 384th becomes part of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing based at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. Standing between them is Senior Master Sgt. Mike O’Connor. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Col. Todd Cargle, left, applauds after Lt. Col. Sean McClune, center, assumed command of the 384th Air Refueling Squadron on the day that the 384th officially becomes part of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing based at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. At right, Sr. Master Sgt. Mike O’Connor of the 384th carries the unit’s guidon flag. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Lt. Col. Sean McClune speaks at the ceremony to assume command of the 384th Air Refueling Squadron, which becomes part of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Members of the 384th Air Refueling Squadron listen to speeches during the ceremony to mark the joining of their squadron to the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. The nickname of the unit is the “squarepatchers” because their unit patch, on their right shoulders, is the only square patch in the Air Force. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Col. Todd Cargle, left, commander of the 92nd Air Refueling Wings Operations Group, speaks at the ceremony to mark the placement of the 384th Air Refueling Squadron into the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
The family of Lt. Col. Sean McClune, standing behind group at center, take a tour of an Air Force tanker plane from Maj. Michael Tillis, right, before the ceremony to make McClune’s unit, the 384th Air Refueling Squadron, part of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. The people are, from left, Rick Bunting, Robert and Marie McClune, and Maddie and Avery McClune. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Maj. Michael Tillis, a tanker pilot, gives a tour of a KC-135 airplane to the family of Lt. Col. Sean McClune, not shown, before a ceremony to join McClune’s unit, the 384th Air Refueling Squadron, officially joined the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Maj. Michael Tillis, a tanker pilot, right, gives a tour of a KC-135 airplane to the family of Lt. Col. Sean McClune, not shown, before a ceremony to join McClune’s unit, the 384th Air Refueling Squadron, officially to the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. The people are, from left, the commander’s son Max, mother, Marie McClune, daughters Avery and Maddie and wife, Amy McClune. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Maddie and Avery, daughters of Lt. Col. Sean McClune, incoming commander of the 384th Air Refueling Squadron, walk with their mother, Amy McClune, to the receiving line and carry flowers presented after the lieutenant colonel assumed command of the squadron under the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base on Thursday. The McClune family also have a younger son, named Max. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Fairchild Air Force Base Thursday took command of a third refueling tanker squadron in a transfer of nine aircraft and their personnel from McConnell Air Force Base to Fairchild.
The 384th Air Refueling Squadron has been moved to Fairchild as the Air Force prepares to take delivery of a new generation of air tankers, the KC-46A Pegasus.