Emerald Coast civic leaders visit Cannon

  • Published
  • By Amy Oliver
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. --  "This tour is a good thing," said Sam Seevers, mayor of Destin. "I had no idea all of this happened out here at Cannon."

Mayor Seevers and 23 Emerald Coast community leaders traveled to Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., aboard a 6th Special Operations Squadron C-130 March 13-14 to learn about the similarities and differences between the missions of the Air Force Special Operations Command sister wings, the 1st and 27th Special Operations Wings.

Col. Jim Slife, 1st SOW commander, hosted the civic leader tour as a way to provide a better understanding of the capabilities Cannon brings to the AFSOC mission.

"Since AFSOC is such a small community, many Hurlburt Field Airmen bounce back and forth between both bases," Slife said. "My goal of bringing you out here is to show you what Cannon is, and what they bring to the AFSOC mission, and how the two bases work together to accomplish the mission."

Civic leader tours are a community relations function that introduces influential community leaders from one geographical area to a different Air Force mission in order to give them a bigger Air Force vision. The attendees generally fly on an Air Force aircraft, dine at Air Force facilities and receive in-depth tours of the base.

In this case, Clovis, N.M., community leaders even welcomed the Emerald Coast guests with a customary chili cheeseburger dinner at the town's Norman Petty Rock and Roll Museum to give them a flavor of the culture Cannon AFB Airmen experience there.

Curry County Commissioner Caleb Chandler announced at the dinner that he would like to establish a symbolic sister county relationship with Okaloosa County, since many AFSOC Airmen call both communities home at various stages of their careers.

After various capability demonstrations at the Melrose Range and tours of each airframe Cannon houses, the community leaders came away with a greater understanding and appreciation for AFSOC Airmen.

"This tour has been so eye-opening for me," said Amy Linares, director of Women's Services at North Okaloosa Medical Center. "Even the hot bus ride on the desolate range...Airmen in Afghanistan do this all the time with no complaints. I truly have a much greater appreciation for all military."