Background
He was born in Bellingham, Washington, the only child of Harry Anson Fairchild, a lawyer, and Georgie Ann (Crockett) Fairchild. His father, born near Brantford, Ontario, had moved to the United States and settled in Washington in 1884.
He was born in Bellingham, Washington, the only child of Harry Anson Fairchild, a lawyer, and Georgie Ann (Crockett) Fairchild. His father, born near Brantford, Ontario, had moved to the United States and settled in Washington in 1884.
Young Fairchild attended public schools in Bellingham and Olympia, and in 1913 entered the University of Washington as a military cadet, concurrently enlisting in the Washington National Guard.
His three and a half years at the university were interrupted by National Guard service as a radio platoon sergeant on the Mexican border in 1916, and he did not complete a degree.
He received flight training at an Italian school in Foggia, where he completed a pilot and observer course and was commissioned in the U. S. Air Service in January 1918.
He became a test pilot at McCook Field, Ohio, in February 1921, graduated from the maintenance engineer course there in 1923, and served in varied Air Corps engineer assignments at McCook Field, Mitchell Field, New York, Langley Field, Virginia, and Santa Monica, California, through the decade.
He served as chairman of the state Railroad Commission, and of the Public Service Commission which succeeded it, from 1905 until his death in 1911. Young Fairchild attended public schools in Bellingham and Olympia, and in 1913 entered the University of Washington as a military cadet, concurrently enlisting in the Washington National Guard. His three and a half years at the university were interrupted by National Guard service as a radio platoon sergeant on the Mexican border in 1916, and he did not complete a degree.
In June 1917, after American entry into World War I, Fairchild became a flying cadet in the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps.
He then flew night bombing missions with French air groups during the Aisne-Marne and St. Mihiel offensives until wounded by German antiaircraft artillery fire in October.
After a few months of civilian life, Fairchild sought and received a regular commission in the Air Service, and upon return to active duty with the rank of first lieutenant in 1920, he commanded a bombardment squadron (the 11th Aero) at Kelly Field, Texas.
As one of the few American pilots with combat bombing experience, Fairchild might have been expected to give active support to the campaign of General William "Billy" Mitchell for greater recognition of the importance of military air power. Such, however, was not Fairchild's temperament; he preferred anonymity, and sought to make a thorough study of any matter before passing judgment.
He became a test pilot at McCook Field, Ohio, in February 1921, graduated from the maintenance engineer course there in 1923, and served in varied Air Corps engineer assignments at McCook Field, Mitchell Field, New York, Langley Field, Virginia, and Santa Monica, California, through the decade.
As a notable exception to these technical duties, he flew on the Army Air Corps goodwill circumnavigation flight of South America from December 1926 to May 1927 and, as one of the ten officers of the mission, received the Distinguished Flying Cross--the first awards of the new decoration.
In 1934 Fairchild began several years of military professional education, completing courses at the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field, Alabama (1935), the Army Industrial College (1936), and the Army War College (1937).
In 1937 he joined the faculty of the Air Corps Tactical School, where a group of instructors--soon to be wartime air leaders--were planning a strategic air warfare concept of air bombardment against the vital industrial fabric of a hostile nation.
This effort generated American air warfare concepts of World War II, and Fairchild's associates credited him with bringing to the planning a deep understanding of national policy, particularly the role of air power as an instrument for the furtherance of national objectives.
In July 1940 Fairchild was transferred to the Office of Chief of Air Corps, the beginning of five years of staff duty in Washington during World War II. He was promoted to brigadier general in August 1941 and major general a year later.
From November 1942 through December 1945 Fairchild was one of the three "elder statesmen" composing the Joint Strategic Survey Committee, the organization charged to advise the Joint Chiefs of Staff on "global and theater strategy, rather than area strategy and campaign plans. "
He was a member of the United States delegations to the Dumbarton Oaks and San Francisco United Nations conferences and placed great hope in the collective security aspects of the United Nations as a guarantor of postwar peace, especially the prospect that the Security Council would be supported by an international peace-keeping air force.
With the end of World War II and the impending establishment of a separate air force, Fairchild was assigned in January 1946 as the first commanding general of the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Here he established the aim of the new military colleges of the Air University as "Truly to educate; not merely to train or indoctrinate. "
He insisted on the broadest academic freedom for students and faculties. Fairchild was appointed vice chief of staff of the Air Force in May 1948 and served in this post, with promotion to the rank of general, until his death.
He died at Fort Myer, Virginia, of a heart attack at the age of fifty-five, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
He was a member of the United States delegations to the Dumbarton Oaks and San Francisco United Nations conferences.
In November he became a member of the Joint Strategic Survey Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Meanwhile, on April 26, 1924, Fairchild had married Florence Alice Rossiter of Omaha, Nebraska. They had one child, Betty Anne.