1964-01-31-sr-p6-fairchild-missiles-given-reprieve

January 31, 1964 Spokesman-Review Page 6:

Fairchild Missile Units Will Stay

All nine intercontinental ballistic missile complexes in the Spokane area are expected to remain operational for an indefinite number of years, it was learned Thursday.

The Air Force disclosed in Washington, D.C., last week that plans for phasing out certain missile types in the next 18 months would not affect those belonging to the Fairchild Air Force Base units.

The Fairchild missiles are a more advanced type than the Atlas D models slated for deactivation in the next 18 months.

Maj. Gen, William C. Kingsbury, commander of Fairchild’s 18th Strategic Aerospace Division, said he could not disclose the number of years that the Spokane-based missiles are now expected to remain operational, but that it would be an error to think present plans involve any lessening of missile numbers here at any time in the near future. Eventually it is expected that all liquid-fueled missiles, of Which Atlas is one, will be phased out in favor of solid-fuel types like the Minuteman.

A $4 million program to up update and modernize the Fairchild missiles was begun last September. This was designed to extend the period of operational serviceability of the ICBM’s located here, Gen. Kingsbury said.

The B52 manned bombers of the type based at Fairchild are expected to be a major weapon in the arsenal of the Strategic Air Command until perhaps 1970, a Washington source reported recently. That source suggested that in terms of its mission and its equipment, Fairchild should be an active and important military base for at least that long.