{"id":2130,"date":"2007-08-21T13:52:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-21T19:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/officials-celebrate-final-ok-for-new-cannon-mission\/"},"modified":"2007-08-21T13:52:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-21T19:52:00","slug":"officials-celebrate-final-ok-for-new-cannon-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/officials-celebrate-final-ok-for-new-cannon-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials celebrate final OK for new Cannon mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Mexico<\/st1:state>\u2019s leaders today hailed the final approval of the new mission for Cannon Air Force Base<\/a> in Clovis<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>, which will begin Oct. 1.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Though it had been previously announced that the base would become home to a special operations wing of the Air Force Special Operations Command, an environmental impact statement was holding up final approval. The Pentagon signed off on the statement today, finalizing the mission.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> said today\u2019s signing was \u201cgreat news for the people of Eastern New Mexico<\/st1:place>.\u201d U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a> said the new mission \u201cwill only increase the synergy of New Mexico<\/st1:state>\u2019s significant role in the United States<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019 defense and military development.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Cannon is now on track to begin its new mission on Oct. 1. It will be equipped with about 100 manned and unmanned aircraft and the three-year buildup will eventually include 4,400 to 5,600 active-duty personnel.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile not unexpected, it is certainly a welcome announcement that the environmental impact statement has been completed. Any time you\u2019re dealing with environmental issues, you can\u2019t quite be sure until it\u2019s a done deal,\u201d U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a> said. \u201cWith this important part of the process behind us, we can now focus on moving forward to expand the mission at Cannon Air Force Base and ensure its long-term viability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman<\/a> said the state \u201ccan now be assured that Cannon will continue playing a key national-security role for our nation, and that the base will remain a vital part of eastern New Mexico<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>\u2019s economy. This is a victory for the delegation, the state, local officials and the communities of Clovis<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and Portales.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a> said the new mission \u201cis a great fit for New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, and this is a huge step forward. We all look forward to welcoming this new mission and new friends to Cannon.\u201d And U.S. Rep. Tom Udall<\/a> said that, while Cannon\u2019s mission may have changed, \u201cthe commitment to service of the men and women at Cannon has not. Today marks a victory for the Clovis<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> and Portales communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> agreed.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOn behalf of the hard-working and committed residents of Clovis, Portales and surrounding communities, I\u2019d like to recognize the Department of Defense for taking into account all of the great things that Cannon has to offer a new mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish<\/a>, who chaired the state\u2019s commission on military base realignment, said today is \u201ca great day for celebration, knowing that all requirements and assessments are satisfied and the National Environmental Policy Act process has been completed. The Clovis<\/st1:place> community and all New Mexicans have shown their continuous commitment to taking care of the men and women of the U.S. Air Force.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Mexico\u2019s leaders today hailed the final approval of the new mission for Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, which will begin Oct. 1. Though it had been previously announced that the base would become home to a special operations wing of the Air Force Special Operations Command, an environmental impact statement was holding up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2130\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}