Cannon Air Force Base

Cannon Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation located approximately 7 miles southwest of Clovis, New Mexico. The base's history began in the late 1920s as Portair Field, a civilian passenger facility, serving as a stop on the first coast-to-coast air/rail service in 1929. Civilian airline service continued intermittently, including by Pioneer Air Lines and a brief period of jet service by Texas International Airlines in the late 1970s. The military took over the facility in 1942, assigning it to the Second Air Force, initially for glider detachments. In 1943, it became Clovis Army Air Field, a training base for B-24 Liberator bomber crews under the 16th Bombardment Wing. After World War II, it was placed on reduced operational status, then reactivated in 1947 as Clovis Air Force Base under Strategic Air Command, though it was largely on reserve/standby status until 1951.

Jurisdiction transferred to Tactical Air Command in 1951, and it hosted units like the 140th Fighter-Bomber Wing. Renamed Cannon Air Force Base in 1957 in honor of General John K. Cannon, it was the sole operator of the F-111D Aardvark tactical fighter bomber from the early 1970s to the early 1990s. In 2005, a recommendation for closure was overturned, leading to its transfer from Air Combat Command to Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) on October 1, 2007. The current host unit is the 27th Special Operations Wing (27 SOW), which conducts specialized and contingency operations. Aircraft stationed at Cannon AFB include the AC-130J Ghostrider, MC-130J Commando II, MQ-9 Reaper, CV-22 Osprey, and U-28 Draco. Other units include the 27th Special Operations Group, 27th Special Operations Maintenance Group, 27th Special Operations Mission Support Group, and 27th Special Operations Medical Group. The base has two concrete runways: 04/22 measuring 3,049 meters and 13/31 measuring 2,498 meters. Environmental concerns regarding Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances contamination have been noted.