BEAUFORT MARINE CORPS AIR STATION - South Carolina's military bases have room to grow instead of being potential shutdown targets in the Pentagon's 2005 round of closures, Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday.

"Frankly, we could add some things to these bases in South Carolina," Sanford said after a tour of this base, home to nine F/A-18 Marine Corps and Navy fighter jet squadrons - about 108 aircraft - and some 12,800 military and civilian residents.

The closeness of high-tech bombing ranges in Georgia and training ranges offshore, for example, are vital to helping S.C. pilots hone their combat skills, Sanford said. Units from the base deployed recently to Afghanistan and Iraq and showed they were well-prepared, he said.

"It is very, very important to showcase the unique role each one of these bases plays in the nation's national security," Sanford said.

While good to cite the economic importance the military plays in the local economy, it may be more convincing to point out that South Carolina's bases suffer few of the constraints impinging on military sites in more congested areas of the country, Sanford and state lawmakers said.

"Every Marine Corps and Navy mission can be practiced here - that is vital to the nation's security," said House Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, who accompanied Sanford on his tour.

Several retired senior military officers who are members of the Governor's Military Base Advisory Committee also took part in the briefings.

"We look upon this realignment process as a chance to bring things into Charleston," said Tom Mikolajcik, a retired Air Force general on the panel.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld must submit his list of recommended closings and realignments by May 16, 2005.