Q&A: Colonel discusses Cannon and its future

Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials. Col. Jeremy Bergin is the commander of the 27 Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base.

Q: Your assignment to Cannon is ending soon. What is in store for you and your family at Air Force Special Operations headquarters? Tell us about your new job. 

A: I will be on the staff at Air Force Special Operations Command, leading the headquarters staff in supporting our power projection wings worldwide.

Q: Typically, commanders at Cannon stay for about two years. Why are you leaving after one? 

A: As the Air Force looks to transform the way it has been conducting operations over the last almost 30 years to optimize and meet integrated deterrence requirements, several senior officers are moving around to new positions.

These moves leave Air Force Special Operations Command in need of new senior officers, which has been the impetus for my early move. 

Q: What will you miss most about Clovis/Portales? 

A: The community for sure. Our local community partners and civic leaders are so gracious in their support to our airmen. They pour their hearts into doing whatever they can to make our service members and their families' days just a little better, and I will miss that unconditional support.

The small-town feel has a lot of benefits; this is one of them. 

Q: What do you consider your biggest success(es) in your time at Cannon? 

A: All the successes we've enjoyed over the last year are really because the amazing airmen who commit each day to defend this great nation. 

I've been blessed to be a part of the quality of life and quality of mission improvements that resulted in some incredible wins. Wins like our off-base dorm, the creation of our Mission Sustainment Teams and Theater Air Operations Squadron, our increased medical support, and our never-ending commitment to crisis response and combat deployments.

I'm also exceptionally proud of Cannon's renewed focus on our heritage in honoring the multi-capable airmen of the 27th Bombardment Group, The Steadfast Line.

Sharing the story of the 27th BG has highlighted to our airmen that being asked to do the impossible, to pivot, to be multi-capable, is really what we do. It is part of our identity and our Air Commando ethos. It is embedded in the history of the military, dating back to the Army Air Corps.

Seeing the pride grow in our mission and what this wing is capable of has been the honor of a lifetime. 

Q: What project(s) are you leaving unfinished? 

A: I think leaders at all levels continue to run through the finish line and leave projects for their successors to complete.

I'm excited about the foundations we've laid when it comes to community partnerships, whether that is work force development, economic investment that will lead to installation resilience, medical support, and education. 

I hope that Cannon will have good news to share on several fronts in the coming months and be proud of the hard work the team has put into improving our mission execution and quality of life.

Q: Talk about the water situation at Cannon. How might water impact Cannon's future? 

A: Absolutely. Cannon and our surrounding community rely on this precious natural resource. It is front and center with our installation resilience efforts.

I am exceptionally grateful for the hard work of our community partners, Dr. Ladona Clayton and her organization, as well as our civil engineering team led by Mr. Jeff Davis, for driving the approval of Eastern New Mexico's designation as a Sentinel Landscape.

The Sentinel Landscape takes the Readiness and Environment Protection Integration project that Cannon and partners had previously dedicated work toward and expands it significantly to not only benefit our local communities, but now the region as we partner to advance sustainable land use practices.

The Sentinel Landscape also affords a more diverse funding source to protect vital water resources in the 2.44-million-acre area.

With improved recognition at the local, state, and national levels, Cannon and Melrose Air Force Range will continue to cultivate partnerships that are essential to achieving water security, climate resilience, and compatible land use to sustain critical military mission capabilities.

While conserving natural resources, we will continue to train to be ready to fight tonight and in the future.

Q: Researchers recently found that children affiliated with Cannon were diagnosed with a rare brain cancer – called a diffuse midline glioma – at a higher rate than kids elsewhere. Can you give us some perspective on those findings?

A: Sure. When considering only the rare diagnosis of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma/DMG, children with a Cannon Air Force Base affiliation had a higher rate of DIPG/DMG compared to the non-Cannon AFB pediatric population and when compared to the U.S. civilian pediatric population.

However, it's important to recognize that findings with low counts (e.g., three cases) are statistically unstable based on low reliability and make it difficult to rule out chance.

This means that despite the observed rates of DIPG and DMG, the role of chance cannot be dismissed as an explanation.

It's also important to recognize that the leading researchers in this field from across the nation, who aren't affiliated with the Air Force, say there are no known environmental exposures or risk factors linked to DIPG/DMG incidence.

Regarding Cannon AFB specifically, there is no data suggesting a relationship between environmental conditions on base to include per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and DIPG/DMG rates.

Researchers state that no evidence exists that specific inherited genetic mutations contribute to DIPG/DMG.

Most DIPG/DMG cases are associated with an epigenetic phenomenon resulting in a histone mutation known as H3K27M. This is a random mutation without any known cause.

Q: What's next for Cannon? Any new missions or changes on the horizon? 

A: Across the Department of the Air Force and Air Force Special Operations Command, we are seeing change. This is a result of reorganization that will largely transform the way the Air Force executes operations, and the way AFSOC supports our Special Operations partners.  

There haven't been any decisions made regarding whether or not this will bring a new mission to Cannon – but we know that Cannon is here to stay.

We also know that change is necessary in order to remain the world's most powerful Air Force. Change is inevitable when you are in the business of holding the line for the nation and its citizens, anytime, any place, any where.

- Compiled by Landry Sena, the Staff of the News