Questions regarding military aircraft/aircraft manuevers

[Major Nikon]

12. TCM is the identifier for McChord

AKA KTCM which is the international identifier (airports in the US are prefaced by a K).

When an aircraft is configured for landing, it will normally have the landing lights on, especially at night. That's why my guess is they were flying a low level training route.

The red shaded circles are Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) which means aircraft are restricted from flying in those areas except under the conditions specified by the restriction. The one you described sounds like it's related to a mudslide:

http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_4_4936.html

The FAA issues these restrictions quite often for various things. Usually it's to keep the sightseers at a safe distance so relief aircraft can operate safely.