Fairchild Air Force Base supporters have been putting so much effort into positioning the base to be an ideal host for next-generation KC-46A Pegasus aerial tankers that the U.S. Air Force’s reported decision to place them elsewhere can’t help but sting.

What’s being understated, though, is the excitement at least some base backers are feeling about Fairchild—as a sweet consolation prize—potentially becoming home to a sizable number of additional KC-135 Stratotankers, augmenting its current fleet.

The deflating news about the KC-46As, a modified version of the Boeing 767 jet airliner, came a week ago when Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said in a press release that Fairchild now isn’t a leading contender for the planes.

She said Air Force officials told congressional leaders that Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, in New Jersey, and Travis Air Force Base, in California, are the top candidates for the next lot of new tankers. Fairchild had been in the running to receive the first round of KC-46As in 2014, but the Air Force opted to station that lot of planes at McConnell Air Force Base, in Kansas.

Fairchild’s hopes were renewed last June when the Air Force said it was one of five finalists to receive the next round of tankers. Those hopes now appear to have been dashed, although a final decision on where those planes will be sent won’t be made until later this year.

Murray criticized the Air Force for the manner in which it handled the selection process, but offered no hint that she’ll be able to get military officials to reconsider.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., was a bit more measured in her reaction, saying Air Force leaders have assured her that Fairchild is positioned to be a preeminent aerial refueling tanker base well into the future, and added, “I am going to hold them to their word.”

For Fairchild backers, if this decision holds up, the next big push clearly will be to lobby the Air Force hard to reassign KC-135s here from other bases. Long term, the KC-46As are expected to replace the aging KC-135 fleet, but the KC-135s have been modernized over time and are considered to have many years of service still ahead of them.

In a letter to Greater Spokane Incorporated members, CEO Todd Mielke said that of the approximate fleet of 480 tankers, only 179 currently are scheduled to be the new KC-46As. “Fairchild is well-positioned to receive more KC-135s, increasing its fleet from 35 aircraft to 60, to become the largest tanker base in the western United States,” he said. That could translate, he added, into an additional 500 to 1,000 airmen, plus their spouses and dependents, and also into increased construction spending.

Ultimately, a decade or two into the future, the KC-135s all will be decommissioned. But for now, the potential for Fairchild to become home to as many as 25 more of the Stratotankers sounds like a great interim strategy for community leaders here to pursue.