Air Force officials say base's fate could be known by summer.

Air Force officials told Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., during a Senate subcommittee hearing in Washington today that the Defense Deparmtne, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, want to decide the fate of Cannon Air Force Base this year, preferably as early as June or July.

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley were testifying today before the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee when Domenici asked about the search for a new mission at the base, according to a news release from Domenici's office.

"I am very pleased with Secretary Wynne and General Moseley's apparent readiness to culminate the search for a new mission at Cannon, and that Secretary Rumsfeld is actively following this situation," Domenici said in the news release.

Cannon last year was spared a shutdown by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, which said that a new mission for the base must be found by the end of 2009 or face closure.

"We all realize that Cannon will not be the base it was, but I am hopeful it will have a broader mission that fits with expanded joint operations. In the long run, the base will be better positioned to benefit the Air Force and the Clovis area," Domenici said in the release.

During today's hearing Domenici touted the value of New Mexico's unfettered air space to the Air Force and other services and promoted the joint military exercise capabilities existing between Holloman Air Force Base, White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss in El Paso, according to the release.

Wynne, the release said, acknowledged that New Mexico's military ranges cannot be duplicated and would be used once Fort Bliss becomes the home for field testing the Army's Future Combat System -- a vast expansion coming out the 2005 BRAC process.

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