The US Senate approved the 2006 defense appropriations bill, including an amendment designed to keep Cannon AFB, N.M., intact until the base gets a new mission. The Clovis News-Journal reports that Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) inserted a clause in the bill that prevents the Pentagon from withdrawing any assets from the eastern New Mexico base until the Secretary of Defense affirms to Congress that a new mission has been established. The base lost its F-16s under BRAC, but can stay open if it gets a new mission by 2009. According to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, there’s a high-level team in the hunt right now. (DR, 10/05/05).
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
