Press Release - CANNON TO VISIT LOCAL COMMUNITIES ABOUT TRAINING OVER CITIES Published June 29, 2009 By 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs Office CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Representatives from Cannon will be hosting public meetings July 1 in Clovis and Portales, N.M., to speak directly with local communities about the base's mission and training, and how these will affect the local populace. On Wednesday, July 1, base representatives will be at the Clovis Library, North Annex, 701 N. Main St., Clovis, N.M., from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The Portales meeting is scheduled to take place at the Memorial Building, 200 E. 7th St., Portales, N.M., from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. More meetings will be scheduled with other communities in the next few weeks. The forums will not only give the public an idea about the type of training missions Cannon will fly over their communities, but will also offer them an opportunity to ask questions. As new aircraft arrive at Cannon supporting the special operations mission, the public will notice additional aircraft traffic, particularly during the hours of darkness. The most recent addition to Cannon's fleet of aircraft is the first two of eight AC-130H Spectre gunships that arrived here May 19, assigned to the 16th Special Operations Squadron. According to 16th Special Operations Squadron commander Lt. Col. Sean Farrell, the nature of the gunship mission calls for much of the training to be conducted in urban areas. "When we deploy, we will often be flying over cities and tracking targets within those cities under the cover of night," he said. "So when we train at Cannon, it is imperative that some of our operations be done over cities at night as well." "Much of what we'll be doing is adjusting our sensors as we conduct training operations," said Colonel Farrell. "That will require us to fly in circles over the city. The communities we're flying over will hear us, but we will do our best to fly at altitudes that will limit the amount of noise. We want to be good neighbors, too." Current Cannon Airfield operating hours are 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The AC-130H Spectre generally flies at night. For more information about the upcoming meetings, call the Cannon Public Affairs office at (575) 784-4131. Also, more information about the AC-130H Spectre gunship and its mission can be found on a fact sheet located at www.cannon.af.mil