Article about donating a plaque in Memory of Eddie Howe, President of the 

Class of 1971.

THANKS to RICHARD (DICK) HELMS, FHS FLYERS CLASS of 1968 GRADUATE and SENIOR CLASS PRESIDENT

This past Friday, August 18, 2023, the members of the FHS FLYERS CLASS of 1968 celebrated their 55-Year Reunion. During the evening’s festivities, CRAIG MOORE, FHS 1968 FLYER grad announced the name of the anonymous benefactor, RICHARD (DICK) HELMS. CRAIG served as the intermediary between Mr. Helms and the Fairborn City Schools throughout the multi-year process. Unfortunately, Mr. Helm’s health prevented him from attending the reunion.

DICK HELMS, is the FAIRBORN FLYER grad who contributed $2.5 million in 2019, to purchase the 86 acres for the new high school and athletic facilities. During the pandemic in 2020, Mr. Helms again stepped forward with a donation of $750,000 for computer technology, allowing FCS to provide all students with one-to-one technology, critical to student education during the first part of the pandemic when students were home. Helms also provided a $253,000 match to the Turf Committee for field turf for the new stadium.

The TOTAL DONATION to Fairborn City Schools was $3,609,000, the single largest donation ever received by Fairborn City Schools.

A member of National Honor Society, student council, and letterman’s club, Dick was a three-year member and captain of the football team and was named outstanding offensive back and as a member of the ALL-WOL (Western Ohio League) team during his senior year.

Helms earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations with an Economic Development Policy minor in 1972 and a master’s degree in National security Policy in 1973, from American University, Washington D. C. He attended business seminars at Harvard University’s JFK School of Government in 1998, and served in the Naval Reserve, attaining the rank of Lt. Commander.

During his nearly 30-year career as a member of the CIA intelligence community, Dick served his country around the world, but was trained as an Arabist and served most of his career in the Middle East. He was Chief of Station in Latin America, Asia, and Europe, in addition to holding numerous assignments in the United States. His efforts were directed toward intelligence gathering, clandestine anti-terrorism intelligence programs, counter-terrorism programs during the Gulf War, and development of counter-narcotics programs.

Dick was active in the creation of the Director of Central Intelligence’s Counterintelligence Center and in the coordination of CIA European policy/programs with the State and Defense Departments, FBI, NSC, and Congress. He received numerous awards for his work including the Distinguished Intelligence Medal for sustained superior performance, CIA, 1999.

Following his career in the intelligence community, Helms founded Abraxas Corporation, a risk mitigation technology company which focuses on developing technical solutions for national security problems, in McLean, VA, after the 9/11 attacks. Abraxas Applications, a spin-off from Abraxas Corporation, is taking to market TrapWire, a software application designed to detest terrorists before they attack critical infrastructure.

Helms served as a member of the Advisory Council of the Dean of the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C., and was an award-winning member of the Civil Air Patrol and began flying at Wright Field while he was still in high school.

Currently, Helms is the CEO of NTrepid, providing attribution technology for the national security community supporting online missions in the most demanding environments. NTrepid has aided more than 50 government clients who rely on their software in support of online operations.

Why did Mr. Helms make this amazing gift?

“My first class moving to Fairborn High School was a summer school typing class before my sophomore year started. Of course, we used manual typewriters, something hard to find today. That one class ended up serving me well over the years as fast and accurate typing turned out to be critical in all my professional activity but is also symbolic of what my Fairborn experience provided. The teachers and coaches were fundamental guides to who I became, what I did, and how I did it.”