Cannon Air Force Base
Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base, located approximately southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. The host unit at Cannon is the 27th Special Operations Wing also known as "The Steadfast Line". It is under the jurisdiction of Air Force Special Operations Command which activated at the base on 1 October 2007. The 27 SOW plans and executes specialized and contingency operations using advanced aircraft, tactics and air refueling techniques to infiltrate, exfiltrate and resupply special operations forces and provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and close air support in support of SOF operations.
A variety of special operations aircraft are stationed at Cannon, including the AC-130J Ghostrider, MC-130J Commando II, MQ-9 Reaper, CV-22 Osprey and U-28 Draco.
The Steadfast Line
The 27 SOW traces its lineage to the 27 Bombardment Group from World War II. After their aircraft had been destroyed when attacked in the Philippines, the Airmen of the 27th Bomb Group converted into the 1st Provisional Air Corps Regiment.These men became legacy pathfinders -- the first generation of multi-capable Airmen, adapting and overcoming unprecedented battlefield challenges. They salvaged machine guns and cannons from crippled aircraft to fortify American fighting positions and vehicles with heavy weaponry.
Although they lacked formal infantry training, they quickly adapted, training alongside Army Infantry counterparts while under fire to become a staunch fighting force. Two battalions of maintenance, ordnance, intelligence, ground staff, and aircrew Airmen bravely held the left flank of the US Army’s II Corps throughout the defense of Bataan, even escaping encirclement in the final battles, earning them the moniker “The Steadfast Line.”
Previous Airfield Names
- Army Air Base, Clovis, 25 September 1942 -7 April 1943
- Clovis Army Airfield, 8 April 1943 – 12 January 1948
- Clovis Air Force Base, 13 January 1948 – 7 June 1957
- Cannon Air Force Base, 8 June 1957–present
Airline service
The history of the base began in the late 1920s, when a civilian passenger facility, Portair Field, was established on the site.Clovis was a stop on the first coast to coast "air/rail" service between Los Angeles and New York City which began in 1929. Transcontinental Air Transport used a Ford Trimotor aircraft to fly passengers between Los Angeles and Clovis with en route stops at Kingman, AZ and Winslow, AZ as well as Albuquerque, NM. At Clovis, passengers heading east would then transfer and board an overnight train operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to Waynoka, OK where they would connect to another TAT-operated Ford Trimotor aircraft the next morning and continue their journey to the Port Columbus Airport in Ohio where they would transfer again for the final stage of the journey to New York City via the Pennsylvania Railroad. The same rail and flight services, transfers and connecting points were used by passengers heading west. In late 1930 the service had been modified to where the aircraft would fly the western portion of the service via Amarillo, TX rather than Clovis. Transcontinental Air Transport went on to merge with Western Air Express and form what would become Trans World Airlines while Western Air Express would eventually once again regain its status as an independent air carrier and then subsequently be renamed Western Airlines. In later years, both TWA and Western evolved into major airlines operating extensive domestic and international route systems.
In 1948 a new carrier, Pioneer Air Lines, began serving Clovis with the airport being one of several stops on a route between Albuquerque and Dallas Love Field. The other stops included Santa Fe, NM, Las Vegas, NM and Tucumcari, NM as well as Lubbock, TX, Abilene, TX, Mineral Wells, TX and Fort Worth, TX. A second route was then created between Amarillo and El Paso, TX with stops at Clovis, Roswell, NM, and Las Cruces, NM. This second route crossed at Clovis with the initial route between Albuquerque and Dallas which resulted in Clovis being a small hub for Pioneer Air Lines where passengers were then able to connect between the two routes. Initially the airline used 21-seat Douglas DC-3 twin prop aircraft but then upgraded to the 36-seat Martin 2-0-2 twin prop aircraft in 1952.
In 1955 Pioneer was acquired by and merged into Continental Airlines which maintained the same basic service with DC-3 aircraft minus some of the stops and also subsequently upgraded its flights with Convair 340 twin prop aircraft followed by the British manufactured Vickers Viscount four engine turboprop in 1959 with the Viscount being the first turbine powered aircraft type to serve Clovis. The April 1, 1955 Continental system timetable listed three daily DC-3 flights serving the airport including a roundtrip Albuquerque - Santa Fe - Clovis - Lubbock - Abilene - Fort Worth - Dallas Love Field service as well as a one way westbound Houston Hobby Airport - College Station, TX - Temple, TX - Waco, TX - Dallas Love Field - Fort Worth - Abilene - Lubbock - Clovis - Santa Fe - Albuquerque flight. According to the September 27, 1959 Continental Airlines timetable, a Viscount propjet was being operated on a daily roundtrip routing of Albuquerque - Santa Fe - Clovis - Lubbock - Abilene - Fort Worth - Dallas Love Field.
The Clovis Municipal Airport opened in 1959 and took over airline service for Clovis. However, for a brief period during the late 1970s, Texas International Airlines introduced 85-seat Douglas DC-9-10 jet service to Clovis, which was operated via Cannon. According to the March 15, 1978 Texas International system timetable, the airline was operating three departures every weekday from the airport with two nonstops to Albuquerque which offered connections via ABQ to TI DC-9 jet service on to Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and Los Angeles as well as a nonstop flight to Hobbs, NM with this service continuing on to Carlsbad, NM. In 1978, Texas International reverted to using Convair 600 propjets via the Clovis Municipal Airport.
World War II
After the United States entered World War II, the first military unit to use the facility was a glider detachment. On 6 July 1942 the base was assigned to Second Air Force. In 1943, the military began to use the facility as a bomber base. Clovis AAF was assigned to II Bomber Command, Second Air Force. On 8 April 1943, the base was renamed Clovis Army Air Field. The host unit at Clovis AAF was the 16th Bombardment Wing, a training unit for Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber crews for Europe. The 16th Bomb Wing arrived in January 1943.By mid-1946, the airfield was placed on reduced operational status due to postwar funding cutbacks and decreased flying activities. On 16 October 1946, the 234th AAFBU was inactivated and on 1 November 1946, the airfield was placed under the administrative control of Colorado Springs Army Air Base, Colorado. Clovis AAF was placed on temporarily inactive status on 28 May 1947.
Cold War
With the establishment of the United States Air Force in September 1947, Clovis AAF was reactivated. The 509th Airdrome Group, Clovis Detachment took over day-to-day responsibilities for the airfield on 16 December 1947. The 509th operated Clovis AAF as a detachment from its headquarters at Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico, using the airfield as a deployment facility for the group's B-29s. Clovis AAF was renamed "Clovis Air Force Base" on 13 January 1948. However, with no funds to host an active Strategic Air Command bomb wing, Clovis AFB was placed on reserve/standby status on 1 July 1948. Its caretaker unit was the 234th Air Force Base Unit.File:F-100d-474tfwcc-cannon.jpg|alt=474th Tactical Fighter Wing Commanders' F-100D Super Sabre at Cannon AFB during the 1950s.|left|thumb|474th Tactical Fighter Wing Commanders' F-100D Super Sabre at Cannon AFB during the 1950s
Clovis AFB remained on standby status until 1 April 1950 when jurisdiction was transferred from SAC to Air Training Command. ATC assigned the base as a sub post of Reese AFB, Texas on 12 May 1950, while construction ensued to bring the base up to USAF standards. Plans were made to make Clovis AFB a contract flying training facility, however, the advent of the Korean War changed the USAF's plans for Clovis and jurisdiction was transferred to Tactical Air Command as a fighter base on 23 July 1951.
The first USAF unit to use Clovis AFB was the Air National Guard's 140th Fighter-Bomber Wing, which arrived in October 1951 after being activated due to the Korean War. The 140th FBW was a composite unit, made up of elements from the Colorado, Utah and Wyoming Air National Guards.
From the early 1970s to the early 1990s Cannon AFB was the sole operator of the F-111D Aardvark tactical fighter bomber. The F-111D aircraft were operated by the 522nd, 523rd, and 524th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. The mesas and canyons of the largely unpopulated terrain in eastern New Mexico were ideal for training crews to use the F-111s terrain following radar. To obtain crew practice dropping ordnance, the F-111s used the nearby Melrose bomb range.
21st century
On 13 May 2005, the Secretary of Defense recommended that Cannon Air Force Base be closed as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission process. However, on 25 August 2005, the BRAC Commission overturned the recommendation that the base be closed, but upheld the withdrawal of the base's F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft. The USAF had until 31 December 2009 to propose a new use for Cannon AFB, otherwise the base would be closed in 2010. Cannon AFB attempted to reopen a rejected EIS alternative, by substituting an Environmental Assessment. Comments were accepted through 4 October 2010.On 20 June 2006, it was announced that Cannon AFB would transfer from Air Combat Command and become an Air Force Special Operations Command installation. Initial word was that the 16th Special Operations Wing would transfer from Hurlburt Field, Florida. It was later decided that the 27th Fighter Wing would transfer from ACC to AFSOC and become the 27th Special Operations Wing. This action would entail expanding and realigning some aspects of both the 16th Special Operations Wing and AFSOC, also headquartered at Hurlburt Field. This designation means that the base will receive new aircraft to replace the F-16s lost in the BRAC realignment. Jurisdiction was formally transferred to AFSOC on 1 October 2007 and new airframes such as the CV-22 Osprey and AC-130H Spectre were assigned to the new wing at Cannon.
In 2023, the FW1 Ute Reservoir pipeline project started construction to provide potable water by 2030 for Cannon Air Force Base and the communities of Clovis, Portales, Elida, Texico.