FORT JACKSON--Fort Jackson would be the ideal location for thousands of U.S. troops who are slated to return home from Germany in the next few years, Rep. Joe Wilson said Monday.

"I know a perfect location for one of those divisions. It's Fort Jackson, S.C.," Wilson said after touring the post. "I see that we have the potential to bring more facilities to the fort."

Last year, President Bush announced a plan to restructure America's military forces. The plan would ultimately bring up to 70,000 troops -- plus about 100,000 family members and civilian workers -- from around the world back to the United States.

No time line was given for those shifts, but they are not expected to begin before 2006. No sites were identified as possible recipients either.

Pentagon officials said the president's proposal involves the Army's 1st Armored Division and 1st Infantry Division, the famed Big Red One, both based in Germany. Both divisions have seen action in Iraq.

Wilson came to Fort Jackson to show support for the installation as it faces, along with others in the nation, the Pentagon's next round of base closures and realignments.

Wilson said he thinks the fort and the surrounding area has enough room and infrastructure to accommodate more military forces and their families.

"By highway, by air, by rail, we have the infrastructure to support a division," Wilson said.

The fort is near several interstate highways, two Air Force bases and an Air National Guard base. It also is about a two-hour drive from the Port of Charleston, which local officials point out is needed to move a division in times of crisis.

Locating a division at Fort Jackson would have significant positive impact on the local economy, said Donald "Ike" McLeese, chief executive of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce.

McLeese said the installation trains about 40,000 recruits a year and the 52,000-acre installation has space for additional forces. The fort has an annual economic effect on the region of about $2.6 billion a year, McLeese said.