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Email This ArticleBeaufort Mayor Bill Rauch received $50,000 on Wednesday from Gov. Mark Sanford, while Tuesday Sumter, Charleston and Columbia each garnered $50,000 to help protect their military installations.
The General Assembly appropriated the money from fiscal year 2003-04 general funds for bases that could be closed as part of the Department of Defense's next round of cuts. In 1991, Myrtle Beach lost its Air Force Base and in 1993, the Charleston Naval Base lost approximately 20,000 government jobs to closures.
Collectively, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and the Naval Hospital Beaufort are the Beaufort area's largest employers, contributing an estimated $430 million annually to the local economy, Rauch said.
"Closing the Air Station would be like if you took BMW and a couple of other facilities and closed them down in Greenville," the mayor said. "Beaufort is like a mill town."
Rauch said Beaufort and the county's Military Enhancement Committee will use the money to hire a consultant in the nation's Capitol and to lobby Pentagon brass and Congressmen in Washington on the need to keep the Beaufort bases open.
Successfully selling of the base will require emphasizing two of the base's strong suits.
"The air station's access to bombing ranges off the Florida coast is unsurpassed," Rauch said. "They can get to the ranges in 12 minutes."
Another important advantage the air station has is the lack of heavy development surrounding the base.
"The Pentagon wants to make sure encroachment on the bases is under control," Rauch said. "Unlike a lot of bases around the country, we've managed to keep our own nest clean."
Sanford acknowledged Wednesday that 1,600 people from Beaufort bases fought in the Iraq war.
"We need to remind the Pentagon top brass of what a very significant role South Carolina plays in national defense," he said.
