(Published August 25‚ 2003)

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) - The sheer size of Fort Jackson and its variety of military missions could help keep base closure attempts at bay, Gov. Mark Sanford said Monday.

"It's very impressive," Sanford said during his first visit to the base, which annually puts some 52,000 Army soldiers through their first levels of training.

Besides conducting basic combat and advanced individual training for Army soldiers, the installation also is home to a chaplain school, a drill sergeants' school, the Soldier Support Institute and the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute.

Sanford toured the base Monday morning with members of his Military Base Advisory Committee. In past months, they have been visiting military sites around the state as they prepare arguments on the Pentagon's expected round of base closure proposals in 2005.

"With this base, it's sheer scale. You look at the number of recruits that are trained on the Army side, the total is just astounding. This is a driver in training in the U.S. Army," Sanford said.

The presence of other schools on the base can be "the jewels in one's crown" and could help fend off base closure moves, Sanford said. Whether military installations serve more than one service and conduct more than a single mission are things the Pentagon will be looking at as it attempts to pare the military, the governor said.

"I think relative to some other installations in South Carolina, this one is exceedingly safe," Sanford said. "You never say never in this process ... but relative to other things, this is one (base) where I feel confident."

The governor spoke in the shadow of "Victory Tower," the 45-foot wooden structure where trainees clamber up a variety of rope ladders and either rappel or scramble down rope nets in a series of confidence-building exercises.

"I admire you," Sanford said as he shook the hand of 19-year-old Pfc. Danielle Fach of Great Falls, who grinned as she was introduced to the governor after rappelling off the tower.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Renner, a former commander of Fort Jackson who accompanied Sanford on the tour, said afterward that while the installation may be "safer than others, every installation in the state is vulnerable."

"This is a premier Army training facility, but you can never be too complacent," Renner said.

Donald G. "Ike" McLeese, president of the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, said Fort Jackson was able to pick up some schools and duties from military sites shut down in earlier base closing rounds.

"We'd like to pick up additional missions, but with base closure, anything is possible. ... We don't want to take anything for granted," McLeese said.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to submit a list of recommended closings and realignments by May 16, 2005. The commission is supposed to give its decisions to the president by Sept. 8, 2005.