JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD -- Members from the 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron teamed-up with the 62nd Airlift Wing to support a huge anniversary community event in Moses Lake July 1.
Community members put together the 50th Anniversary of the Port of Moses Lake held at the Grant County International Airport, Wash.
There is a historic connection between the U.S. Air Force and the airport. First activated on Nov. 24, 1942 as a temporary World War II training center, Larson's first mission was to train pilots for P-38's and later to train combat crews for the B-17 Flying fortress, according to the McChord Air Museum history.
In May 1950, Moses Lake AFB was redesignated Larson Air Force Base in honor of Major Donald A. Larson, a WW II ace from Yakima, Wash., who was killed in action over Germany in 1944.
The local community created the airport when it was announced that Larson was to be closed by June 1966. The airport is now a heavy jet training and testing facility used by the Boeing Company, Japan Airlines, the U.S. Military and many other air carriers from around the world.
With 4,700 acres and a main runway 13,500 feet long, it is one of the largest airports in the United States, , according to the McChord Air Museum history.