Military Wife Confessions

Welcome to Cannon AFB and New Mexico, the "Land of Enchantment".

As a newcomer to the 27th Special Ops Wing , "AMERICA'S GO TO WING" you will begin an assignment at an installation with more than 50 years of service. We have an important part in the mission of the United States Air Force, providing F-16s, medical and support units anytime, anywhere.

Cannon and the 27th are in an exciting era, undergoing tremendous growth and expansion. Cannon's neighboring communities - Clovis and Portales - share our growth, working very hard to meet the needs of our military community. They share in all the success we as a wing enjoy. The Clovis Committee of Fifty and the Military Affairs Committees of the Clovis/Curry and Portales/Roosevelt County Chambers of Commerce have worked for the military member and families since 1948.

Location:

You will find that we are located in the heart of a pleasant rural area in Eastern New Mexico near Clovis, centered in a triangle of we-known cities. Lubbock , Texas is 112 miles east of us; we are 116 miles southwest of Amarillo, Texas and 220 miles southeast of Albuquerque, NM.

Major Command: Air Combat Command Primary Aircraft: F-16

Mission: Provide highly-trained, combat-ready F-16, medical and support units anytime, anywhere.

History

Cannon's history began in the mid-1920s when Portair Field was established on this site. Portair was a civilian passenger terminal for early commercial transcontinental flights. On the Transcontinental Air Transport Service (TAT), passengers were piloted by Charles Lindbergh in the Ford Trimotor "Tin Goose" by day, then transerred to Pullman trains for night travel to the East Cost. Westbound passengers arrived by train and continued on by air. In the 1930s, Portair was renamed Clovis Municipal Airport.

CLOVIS ARMY AIR BASE - In 1942, after the United States entered World War II, the Army Air Corps took control of the civilian airfield. It was known then as Clovis Army Air Base. The first military unit to use the facility was an Army glider detachment. The 302nd Bombardment Group, a training unit for B-24, B-17, and then B-29 heavy bombers, arrived in 1943 and the base was renamed Clovis Army Air Field. Flying, bombing and gunnery classes continued through the end of World War II. By mid-1946, however, the airfield was placed on a reduced operational status and flying activities decreased. The installation was inactivated in May 1947.

CLOVIS AFB - In July 1951, the base became the responsibility of Tactical Air Command. The first unit, the 140th Fighter Bomber Wing (composed of Air National Guard elements from Colorado, Utah and Wyoming) arrived in October of that year and flew the P-51 Mustang. The 140th formally reactivated the airfield 15 November 1951 as Clovis Air Force Base. At the end of 1952, the 140th returned to Air National Guard control. The 50th Fighter Bomber Wing with F-86 Sabre jets (until transitioning to F-100 Super Sabres in December of 1956) was activated at the base 1 January 1953. It served at Clovis while assigned to the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing, RAF Upper Heyford, United Kingdom. In 1957, the base was renamed Cannon AFB to memorialize General John K. Cannon who had served as commander 12th Air Force and Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force; Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces in Mediterreanean Theatre; Commanding General, US Air Forces in Europe; and Commanding General Tactical Air Command, to name just a few of his distinguished assignments. On 17 February 1959 the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing activated at Cannon AFB, being manned with personnel and equipment reassigned from the inactivated 312th Tactical Fighter Wing. In July 1969 the F-111 entered Cannon flight paths with the loan of 6 F-111As from Nellis AFB, Nevada. The "permanent" F-111Es arrived in October 1969 and throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s, one F-111 airframe or another graced the flightline. When the 832nd Air Division inactivated in July 1975, the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing became the principal Air Force unit at Cannon Air Force Base. The 27th was the only wing - and Cannon the only base - to operate the F-111D. April 1990 saw the activation of the 428th Tactical Fighter Squadron and subsequent arrival of FB-111s (redesignated the F-11G) from the Strategic Air Command. The F-111G was later sold to the Australian Air Force. In Agusut 1991, approximately 400 personnel from Cannon were deployed in OPERATION DESERT SHIELD/STORM and served at various locations in the Middle East. In November 1991, the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing was redesignated as the 27th Fighter Wing and in June 1992 reorganized under 8th Air Force. Cannon received the first F-111F aircraft on 15 February 1992 and the first EF-111A arrived on 5 May. F-111F crews and support personnel from the 522nd, 523rd, and 524th Fighter Squadrons began rotations in September 1992 to Incirlik AB, Turkey, in support of Operation Provide Comfort. Their commitment there ended in July 1993 and the aircraft's retirement began soon after. EF-111A crews and support personnel from the 429th Electronic Combat Squadron deployed to Incirlik for Provide Comfort beginning in December 1992. In May 1993, EF-111As began their deployments to Saudi Arabia for Operations Southern Watch. In July 1996, the 27th Fighter Wing transitioned from the F-111 to the F-16s and for the first time flew two airframes. The EF-111A and the F-16s coexisted until May 1998 when the EF-111A retired. The 522 FS, 523 FS, and 524 FS remained constant units on the base through all the transitions. The 428 TFTS inactivated in July when the EF-111As retired, but reactivated 12 November 1998 as the 428 FS under the Peace Carvin III agreement with the Republic of Singapore Air Force. Currently all four squadrons fly the F-16 aircraft.

via Military.com

Jessica - This one needs updated, Cannon is now the 27th Special Ops Wing (I know military.com is outdated also, I've sent them a note too ;)).

I live here in Clovis (actually I was also born at Cannon back in the day when the hospital was more than just a day clinic). The base is pretty small and I can agree with a lot of the comments made about the town - both good and bad. In all honesty though, it really is a good location for raising small children and those who what a pretty quiet lifestyle.

My dad was stationed here - twice - in the 70s & 80s, and my husband served all 6.5 years of his Air Force enlistment here as one of the F-16 crew chiefs.

If anyone has any questions about the base or the town, please feel free to contact me!

Tho we aren't assigned to Cannon AFB anymore, I'll speak for this base's housing options since it's where I'm living for now... We lived in both civilian and military (off-base) housing when assigned to Cannon.

Cannon offers four military housing options:

• within the base gates (aka JoeCannon Estates, two communities - Mercury & Gemini),

• just outsideof the base gates (two communities - Chavez Manor and Chavez West,which is the newer of the two),

• and one community each within the townsof Clovis (aka 801 Housing) and Portales (aka Cannon Meadows). Both theClovis and Portales commutes take about 20 minutes, and traffic hasnever been an issue for me.

The Joe Cannon Estates Gemini housing on base is being torn down to be rebuilt, as there were issues with sewers and asbestos, so the amount of housing available is more limited than usual.

We lived in a 2 bedroom duplex in the Chavez West area and loved it there.

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Lord, keep your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth.

PLEASE WARN THESE POOR WOMEN!!! THERE IS NOTHING I MEAN NOTHING IN NEW MEXICO. CANON IS WORSE THAN EVEN MY BASE. IT IS A VERY SMALL TOWN WITH A SMALL POPULATION. I grew up in Carlsbad, NM and I cried for weeks when he got orders to come here. I have watched all my friends be miserable and demand to go somewhere else. There are currently slim to no jobs even if you have college. so be pregnant and plan to stay at home or bring LOTS of liquor