SUMTER, S.C. - A group devoted to fighting any attempt to close Shaw Air Force Base got a $100,000 check Thursday from state officials.

Gov. Mark Sanford and Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom presented the Sumter Base Defense Committee with the funds, part of a state allocation designed to aid the Beaufort, Charleston, Columbia and Sumter areas.

"Our job is to do whatever we can to protect every military base in South Carolina given that this is essentially a $4 billion industry for our state," Sanford said in a statement issued by his office. "I'm hopeful these funds will help them continue their mission to protect our bases."

The Defense Department has mandated a round of base closures for 2005 and top officials have said no base is to be left out of consideration for consolidation or closure.

Up to 25 percent of all military bases could be involved in the effort to make the military run more efficiently, Pentagon officials have said.

The state money was appropriated by the General Assembly from fiscal year 2003-04 general funds.