Lawmakers from the Carolinas and West Virginia are converging in Charlotte today to try to convince the military to leave their military bases and jobs alone.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission is holding more than a dozen hearings across the country to meet with communities affected by the Pentagon's proposed list of base closures and downsizing.

Four of the commission's nine members will be in town today for the day-long hearing at Central Piedmont Community College's west campus.

North Carolina and South Carolina will each have two hours to present their cases for why their bases should be spared or, in some cases, expanded.

President Bush appointed the commission, which will make recommendations for how military bases should be realigned. The Pentagon has named more than 800 military installations nationwide it believes could be closed or changed. The commission will present its recommendations to Bush and Congress in September.

The Carolinas escaped relatively unscathed in the Pentagon proposal released in May. Only four military bases in the Carolinas, none of them large, were targeted for closing. And several bases -- including Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., and Fort Bragg in Fayetteville -- could see their missions and payrolls grow.

Still, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue has said North Carolina must mount a strong defense as other states fight to regain jobs and move cuts elsewhere.

S.C. lawmakers plan to make a case for sparing a Navy engineering facility in Charleston, which the Pentagon has recommended be closed. If that happened, the region would lose up to 1,100 jobs. Overall, South Carolina would gain 700 military jobs under the Pentagon's plan.

Lawmakers expected to attend today's hearing include: Perdue, Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C.; N.C. Gov. Mike Easley; Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.; S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford; and several House members.

Also slated to speak: representatives from key military communities, including Fayetteville, Goldsboro, Jacksonville, Havelock and Durham, where the Pentagon has proposed closing an Army research office.

Want to Go?

What: Base Realignment and Closure Commission hearing.

When: Today. Doors open to the public at 11:30 a.m. N.C. officials speak 1-3 p.m. S.C. officials speak 3-5 p.m. West Virginia officials speak 5-5:30 p.m.

Where: Harris Conference Center, Central Piedmont Community College west campus, 3216 CPCC West Campus Drive, Charlotte, off Billy Graham Parkway.