Surviving With Honor Air Force Names New Fairchild Training Facility After Famous Graduate
The Air Force broke one of its own rules Friday, but Chief of Staff Gen. Ron Fogleman said he was glad to do it.
The rules say no building can be named for someone who’s still living. The Survival School’s new $4.6 million academic training facility is named for George “Bud” Day, who is very much alive.
Day, 71, is a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, a Medal of Honor recipient and the most decorated officer in America, his Air Force biography says.
A veteran of three wars, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in World War II, and flew Air Force fighters in Korea and Vietnam.
“It was an easy decision to waive that regulation,” said Fogleman as he joined Day on a stage at the opening of the new building.
Day said Friday’s ceremony provided him with a homecoming. Thirty years ago, he graduated from Survival School training.
“It shaped my life, and prepared me for the events to come,” he said.
Those events included being shot down over North Vietnam and being taken prisoner. He escaped across the demilitarized zone into South Vietnam, only to be recaptured by the Viet Cong within sight of a rescue plane. He spent 67 months as a prisoner.
Survival training helped him “perform to the standard the country expects,” Day told about 100 people gathered for the building’s dedication.
“When we lose our freedom and regain it, we should regain it with honor, or not come back,” he said in a quiet voice. The academic training facility is part of a $42 million renovation of the Survival School, which is at Fairchild Air Force Base. Previous work has included new dormitories and a parachute training facility.
About $12 million worth of construction remains in the plans for the school, which trains all Air Force flight crews how to survive in hostile areas and evade capture if their planes go down.
The new training facility should last at least 50 years, Fogleman said. “The name of Bud Day will live well beyond 50 years,” he said.
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