Back in June, in conjunction with Pangborn’s annual Festival of Flight, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the former Executive Flight building to welcome its new tennants, Army Aviation Support Facility 2 (AASF-2), formerly located at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane. The build has been renamed to reflect this as well.

Members of our post were in attendance for this event, welcoming our newest neighbors. You can view photos from the event on Facebook.

According to the WA Military Department, about 100 soldiers will drill out of the facility on a monthly basis. The units that will be stationed there are Charlie Co., 1st Battalion, 112th Aviation; Det 2, Charlie Co., 1st Battalion, 168th General Aviation; and the 286th firefighting detachment.

Of those units, our VFW Post has officially “adopted” the Charlie Co., 1st Battalion, 112th Aviation Security & Support. This is an aviation unit flying UH-72 Lakota helicopters in support of DEA, Border Patrol, and fire suppression missions. There are about 15 full-time members assigned to the airport, with up to 80 members reporting for monthly drill training. Additionally, there is a yearly 2-week training session that takes place in the summer.

The VFW’s Adopt-a-Unit Program assists in building relationships between the VFW and our military members. When a VFW Post adopts a unit, we agree to provide support for that unit and their families, often in the form of Welcome Home, Family Day, Dinner/Picnics, or Holiday Parties, or other direct support activities as needed. In the past, we have even prepared and sent off care packages when our adopted unit was deployed. It has been nearly 10 years since our Post actively had an Adopted Unit, namely because they were all so far away. With the Army National Guard moving their AASF-2 and its associated units here to Wenatchee, we now have a closer unit to support.

Speaking of parties, as mentioned in our Winter Adventures blog post, on December 14th, we put on their unit Holiday Party at the Wenatchee Veteran’s Hall. We provided a classic turkey and ham dinner with all the fixings. They had about 75 members attending including a few of their family members. A special thanks to our Post and Auxiliary members that really stepped up and did all the cooking and logistics to make this an outstanding event.

In conjunction with that party, a huge diaper giveaway for families with little ones was provide by the Auxiliary’s Operation BOTTOM COVER. The Auxiliary also had plenty of toys to give away thanks to Operation HOME FRONT. Comrade Tony Warren with Operation CATCHING FREEDOM and Justin Wisemore, with Veteran Fishing Adventures, also gave away several free fishing trips to those in attendance.

After everyone got their food, the Unit gave out some of their annual awards before voting for “Best Holiday Sweater”. There were lots of laughs and smiles. It was a great evening to spend with our new military members.

We’ll have many more events scheduled with the Guard throughout the year, so be on the lookout for upcoming volunteer opportunities to Support Our Troops!