On Monday, Sanford made his first visit to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot as governor, reaffirming the state's need to continue fighting to protect its military bases.
A Defense Department-mandated round of military base realignment and closures is set for 2005 to eliminate excess installations and allow the military to operate more efficiently. It's been estimated that about 23 percent of all installations will be affected.
"We have to be vigilant in making the case for the military utility that exists here in South Carolina," Sanford said, after eating lunch with recruits from the Carolinas at the depot's 3rd Recruit Training Battalion mess hall.
While the bases in Beaufort County and the rest of South Carolina may be safer than some others throughout the country, safe is a relative term, he said.
When the Charleston Naval Base was shuttered during the 1993 round of military base closures, "a lot of people were surprised" because that base was thought to be safe, the governor said.
With Monday's visit to Parris Island, Sanford has made official visits to all six of South Carolina's major bases except for Charleston Air Force Base, which he has visited in unofficial capacities.
Like the governor, the members of South Carolina's base closure task force, which urged him to visit all of the state's bases in the first place, said the efforts must continue. The task force includes representatives from the Beaufort, Columbia, Charleston and Sumter areas -- the regions that would most likely be affected by base closures. The committee keeps the governor up to date on the latest base closure news and lobbies to national legislative delegates and Defense Department members on behalf of South Carolina's bases.
"It's time to go up and make the case to the members of the Department of Defense that we are able to talk to," said retired Army Brig. Gen. Jim Shufelt, Beaufort County's representative on the state committee.
While task force members can't "just wander the halls of the Pentagon," there are key people in Washington, D.C., they can meet with and make the case for the military value of the bases in Beaufort County and the rest of the state, he said.
Shaw Air Force Base, Sanford said, is in the most danger of being closed, but the governor is confident that South Carolina can bolster its military presence, taking on capacity from other bases that are shuttered or realigned.
The state has the geographic location, the ability to fly cargo in and out of the area, and the community support needed to shoulder an even larger military presence, he said.
Retired Marine Corps Col. John Payne, the vice chairman of Beaufort County's Military Enhancement Committee, a volunteer organization of the Greater Beaufort Chamber of Commerce tasked with protecting the area's bases, echoed the governor's sentiments that the fight isn't over and that nothing can be considered safe.
"This is going to be a tough road," Payne said. "It really is."
Parris Island, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and Naval Hospital Beaufort contribute about $454 million to the area's economy each year, according to an economic impact study by the Military Enhancement Committee and Georgia Southern University. If all three bases closed, it could take the area's economy over 17 years to recover, the study suggests.
The governor's appearance at Parris Island and his continued support -- he allocated $200,000 last year to fight base closures -- are valuable assets to the local cause, Payne said.
"I think it's very important to show that support from the highest levels in the state," he said.