The delegation will meet Monday with senior Pentagon officials representing the Army, Navy and Air Force, said Sanford's spokesman Will Folks.
The group will stress that instead of closing South Carolina bases, the state's military facilities are capable of taking on additional tasks, Rauch said.
"I hope to raise the consciousness of the decision makers, that we can keep these bases functioning," he said, adding that he thinks Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort could accommodate more flight squadrons.
Retired Army Gen. Jim Shufelt, who serves on the executive committee of the governor's base task force and volunteers with Beaufort County's Military Enhancement Committee, said the area's efforts to work with the bases have been apparent in everything from curbing encroachment at the air station to the privatized housing efforts under way at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
"It's a continuous reinforcement and reminder of the commitment of the local officials to make sure the local bases can accomplish their mission in the future," he said.
A recent study conducted by Georgia Southern University reported that the three military bases in Beaufort County contribute $454 million each year to the area economy in salary alone.
"It's an important story for us to tell," Rauch said.
Next Tuesday, President Bush will submit a list of candidates for the new Base Realignment and Closure Commission.
The commission will have a key role in deciding which of the roughly 425 domestic military bases should be closed, expanded or restructured.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will submit his base closure recommendations in May.
Mayors of other South Carolina cities with military bases have been invited to make the trip with Sanford. In addition, the governor's top base-closing advisers, retired Maj. Gen. Joe Gardner and Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will make the trip.
South Carolina suffered hits in the last two rounds of base closings.
The Myrtle Beach Air Force Base closed in 1993 resulting in the loss of an estimated 3,900 military and civilian jobs. The Charleston Naval Base and shipyard were closed in the next round of closings.
In 1993, before the base and shipyard were closed, the military accounted for about 48,000 jobs with a $4.2 billion economic impact in the Charleston area. A report released last year found the military presence in Charleston now provides more than 27,000 jobs and pumps almost $3.3 billion into the local economy.