The BRAC commission voted 6-1 to hold off on shuttering Cannon AFB, N.M., but it decided to move the base’s 50 F-16s to six other bases. The base will move into the “enclave” category until December 2009, by which time the base will have had to find another mission, if it doesn’t want to be killed off. The base narrowly missed being spared completely. In an earlier vote, one of the commissioners, retired Air Force Gen. Lloyd “Fig” Newton, led an effort to move T-38 training from Moody AFB, Ga., to Cannon. That would have done the trick, but Newton could line up only four favorable votes in the nine-member commission.
The U.S. military is sending more fighter jets to the Middle East to step up its war with Iran, adding to what is already the largest buildup of airpower in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For now, the operation shows little sign of coming to a quick…