The Air Force has issued a “prospectus” on Cannon AFB, N.M., distributing it throughout the federal government, and plans to hold informal workshops in the Washington, D.C., area on March 9 and 10 and in New Mexico in April and May, say Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.). Those actions signal solid steps forward in finding a new mission for Cannon, according to the two Senators. Both say they believe a military mission would be best, but they acknowledge that opening the process to all federal agencies was part of the BRAC 2005 plan. The Air Force also told them that USAF will refer its decision on Cannon’s future to DOD this summer. (Brochure and fact sheet.)
A new Air Force plan for how many fighters it needs in the next decade marks a sharp upturn from what it thought it needed just seven years ago. But analysts worry that the aspirational plan now in Congress' hands doesn’t make a tight enough connection to national strategy.
