Base welcomes new leader as it prepares for growth
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE — Cannon Air Force Base has a new commander and a new mission.
Col. Scott West of the 27th Fighter Wing relinquished command during a ceremony Monday at the base near Clovis. The base activated the 27th Special Operations Wing and installed Col. Timothy Leahy as its commander.
Cannon will shrink as its old mission leaves and then will grow over the next few years as more aircraft and Air Force personnel move in.
“I’m here to reassure you the history does not end today,” said the commander of Air Force Special Operations, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley. “It will carry on in new chapters.”
New Mexico’s congressional delegation praised the changeover and renewed its commitment to provide the base with resources it needs to support the new mission.
“We are committed to doing what’s needed to fully stand up this Special Operations Wing,” said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. “These airmen deserve the best bases, training capabilities and communities, and I know that they will have that at Cannon.”
The Pentagon recommended two years ago that the base be closed, but instead it got a new special operations wing. That puts Cannon in the vanguard of the war on terrorism and eventually will make the base larger.
Cannon over the next few years will get new aircraft, including the MC130W Combat Spear, the remotely controlled MQ1 Predator, CV22 tiltrotor Ospreys and AC130 gunships.
As base personnel and invited dignitaries toured the lineup of new aircraft coming to Cannon, a C130 took off, banked west and flew back over the flight line.
