Cannon visitor explores BRAC options

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Craig Seals
  • 27th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFPN) --  As directed by the final 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations, the Air Force is exploring new mission options here.

Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics William C. Anderson visited here Jan. 4-5 to gather information in an attempt to search for potential new missions for the base. He met with Airmen of the 27th Fighter Wing to learn how they perform the Air Force mission.

The recommendations suggested that a new mission for the base be found by the end of fiscal year 2009 or the base will close.

“I was extremely impressed at the level of efficiency the people of this base demonstrated,” Mr. Anderson said. “The people of the 27th Fighter Wing showed a definite commitment to purpose.

“I continued to be impressed by the housekeeping of the facilities here,” he said. “Everything was very clean and extremely orderly.”

The Air Force is in the process of gathering data on the base and compiling a database, or prospectus, to show to other federal government agencies, Mr. Anderson said. Those agencies will then submit proposals for potential new missions for the base. Proposals that come in will be weighed against what is best for the base and the community.

“This process will take well into the summer and the final decision will be made by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,” he said.

Mr. Anderson was met by natural curiosity of Cannon’s Airmen concerning the status of the current mission and when that might change.

“The F-16s of this fighter wing will not be leaving this fiscal year while we look for a re-use for the base,” he said.

“We’re focusing on all the options for potential missions and to speculate at this point what that might be would be premature,” the secretary said. “The F-16s are here now and they will be for a while.

“We’ve still got a mission to execute, so let’s just keep our minds on the mission and as the potential missions tighten up, we’ll see where that takes us,” he said.

The assistant secretary said, “At this point, we are absolutely 100 percent on schedule. We’ve gotten great cooperation from the base and the community in helping us collect the data that we needed.”

Mr. Anderson met with Airmen representing all the groups on base at a breakfast and answered questions on topics ranging from force shaping to changes in tuition assistance due to Air Force downsizing. Mr. Anderson wanted the Airmen to understand that “in an ever-changing world you have to work smarter, faster and more efficient.”

“That means sometimes the head count goes down, sometimes the budget goes down, but you people are smart and aggressive,” he said. “Take every opportunity you have to go to training courses, to learn, to challenge yourselves outside of your comfort zone.”

Transition and flexibility were the emphasis of the open forum with the Airmen.

“We are always in a constant state of transition,” Mr. Anderson said in reference to force shaping. “We will continue to push forward and we will occasionally have to change direction in order to meet the demands of the world around us. Things will change. They always do. Listen to your leaders. They will take you in the right direction.”

About tuition assistance, Mr. Anderson assured Airmen no changes are proposed at this time.

“The Air Force mission will evolve, as everything does over time, but I emphasize flexibility,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what happens in the future, whether you’re in the Air Force or any other organization, as long as you are open to change, you will always have a place at the table. It’s an honor to serve you.”