Serving Eastern New Mexico and West Texas
Members of the Lions Club show their support for Cannon Air Force Base as BRAC officials and state politicians travel down Prince Street on their way to the regional meeting on Friday morning at Marshall Junior High School. (Staff photo: John Eisel) By David Irvin: CNJ staff writer The arguments to save Cannon Air Force […]
By David Irvin/Freedom Newspapers The top names from New Mexico’s leadership and the eastern New Mexico community walked into Marshall Junior High School auditorium Friday with a singular mission: Convince the Base Realignment and Closure commissioners that Cannon Air Force Base should not be shut down. Judging from the boisterous mood at a press conference […]
By Mike Linn: CNJ Correspondent SELMA, Ala. — For-sale signs and empty parking spaces are the norm on this city’s historic Water Avenue, where rotted wood hangs from second-story balconies and paint flakes from the buildings of long-forgotten businesses. It didn’t used to be that way, but much has changed in Selma since 1976, the […]
By Lolita C. Baldor: The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Defense Department, under subpoena from a Senate committee, has provided enough information on the military base closing process to satisfy Senate leaders, so no further legal action will be taken, senators said Friday. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., in a letter to […]
By Marlena Hartz: CNJ staff writer The future of Cannon Air Force Base is being watched closely even beyond eastern New Mexico and West Texas. Six Air Force bases across the United States stand to inherit F-16 fighter jets if Cannon is closed, including Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah. “I can’t say there […]
CNJ staff The Department of Defense has released information about specific criteria used in the compilation of its Base Realignment and Closure lists. Information, available for download on www.brac.gov, includes a system used to calculate cost of base realignment or closure information in regards to COBRA. Committee of Fifty member Randy Harris said a team […]
By David Irvin: CNJ staff writer The strategic team formed to help save Cannon Air Force Base from closure by the Pentagon came together Tuesday for the first time. Comprised of local groups, state groups and three paid lobbying firms, the strategic team set up shop at Clovis Community College and began divvying up responsibilities. […]
By Matt Apuzzo: The Associated Press GROTON, Conn. — For decades, the land around the Navy’s oldest submarine base was a dumping ground for whatever it needed to dispose of: sulfuric acid, torpedo fuel, waste oil and incinerator ash. Now the Pentagon has proposed closing the base, leaving a huge swath of land that contains […]
By Lolita C. Baldor: The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Senators scrambling to head off proposed military base closings in their states are pressing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to release all the data used to decide which facilities to shut down. Nearly two dozen senators from Maine to Nevada signed a letter to Rumsfeld, saying […]
Wire reports WASHINGTON — Top Air Force officials told Base Realignment and Closure commissioners on Tuesday their “bold” proposals will reshape the Air Force, improving its ability to defend the nation. Acting Air Force Secretary Michael Dominguez and Air Force Chief of Staff John Jumper said they considered four major factors in their decision to […]
By Liz Sidoti: The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned a commission reviewing his proposal to close or downsize military bases that tinkering with even one facility could unravel plans for entire sections of the U.S. defense network. “One must be careful about taking a selective look at individual components or […]
By David Irvin: CNJ staff writer “Military value” was at the center of the decision by the Department of Defense to place Cannon Air Force Base on the initial Base Realignment and Closure list, according to high-ranking Air Force officials. Maj. Gen. Gary W. Heckman said in a teleconference Friday the decision to recommend Cannon […]
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon proposed Friday shutting about 180 military installations from Maine to Hawaii including 33 major bases, triggering the first round of base closures in a decade and an intense struggle by communities to save their facilities. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld also recommended a list of scores of other domestic installations — […]
By Marlena Hartz: CNJ staff writer Local Cannon Air Force Base supporters are reacting positively to details released in Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld’s press briefing Thursday. As specifics of the release circled through his dedicated community, Washington Committee member Randy Harris’ hope that Cannon will be absent from the list was boosted. “I […]
By Marlena Hartz : CNJ staff writer Far fewer military bases are likely to be closed and realigned than originally foreseen, in part because of the planned shift of tens of thousands of troops from bases in Asia and Europe to the United States, according to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld said surplus base […]
Cannon is home to 80 F-16 figther jets and more than 3,000 military personnel. (Courtesy photo) By David Irvin: CNJ staff writer Dozens of United States military bases are expected to be targeted for closure this year. Federal officials have predicted as many as 100 of the nation’s roughly 400 bases will be closed. While […]
