See Moses Lake Airport’s Secret the Government Hid for Years

The Grant County International Airport began as Moses Lake Army Air Base in 1942 and was renamed Larson AFB. The government told the public it was a training facility, and many training flights took place there (including for several bombers). But that's not the REAL reason they built the airport. That fact was top secret.

The real reason for the air base was to defend the Hanford Project.

Nearby training bases were also located in Pasco (which became the Tri-Cities Regional Airport -- ever heard of Bombing Range Road in West Richland?) and Spokane. Moses Lake fighters protected Hanford.

After the war, Larson AFB housed several fighters to protect Hanford's plutonium development (along with missile silos in Othello and top of Rattlesnake Mountain)!