BEAUFORT, S.C. - Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England says the loss of two units at the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station has nothing to do with an upcoming round of base closures.

The Navy has announced that it will decommission Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 82, The Marauders, based at the air station. In addition, Angel One, which responds to military and civilian accidents, will be phased out by April 2005.

England, during a visit to the air station on Monday, said search and rescue units are being shut down across the country because of cost and lack of use.

"I don't believe it has any effect at all on (base closures)," England said. "This is not at all associated with" base closures.

The Navy announced in August the Marauders would be decommissioned over the next 18 months as part of a plan to combine Navy and Marine Corps aviation. The squadron leaves Beaufort in about two weeks for a deployment in the Pacific aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Beaufort Mayor Bill Rauch asked why the Navy would decommission the Beaufort squadron instead of one stationed at a more crowded base such as Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia.

"It's a combination of a lot of things," England said, adding he was not the right person to answer the question. "I'll leave that to the military guys."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will submit a list of recommended base closings by May 16, 2005. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission will review the list and make its recommendations to Congress.

England said it was too early to discuss any base closings.

"Not one thing has been discussed with me. It's all just way too premature," he said.

An estimated 25 percent of the nation's military bases are expected to be affected in the new round of closings.

England's visit gave Beaufort a change to show off what the air station and the community have to offer, said retired Marine Corps Col. John Payne, chairman of the local Military Enhancement Committee.

Rauch said England will play a role in the upcoming round of base closings.

"You want to make sure he knows all the good things about Beaufort, in particular the unparalleled relationship between the community and the bases," Rauch said.

During the last round of base closures in 1995, the state fought off an attempt to close the air station.

South Carolina lost the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base in a round of closings in 1991 and the Charleston Naval Base and Shipyard in a round two years later.

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Information from: The Beaufort Gazette, http://www.beaufortgazette.com/