05:52 PM EDT on Friday, June 3, 2005

By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press

North Carolina will remain vigilant to protect its relative success in the initial round of military base closings, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue pledged Friday.

The Pentagon proposed last month that the state lose 568 military positions out of about 135,000 jobs directly related to the military, while it would gain 307 civilian positions.

Some installations, such as Fort Bragg and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, would see personnel growth.

"North Carolina did really, really well," Perdue told the North Carolina Economic Development Board meeting in Raleigh. "Our strategy now is to protect the gains from all of those other states."

Every other state "is investing in whatever it takes to try to figure out how to make North Carolina look bad and how to prevent us" from holding gains, said Perdue, who is in charge of the state's efforts to woo the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

Perdue cited Georgia in particular as a competitor for military personnel and prestige in the months leading up to the Sept. 8 BRAC recommendations to President Bush. A final decision is expected by the end of the year.

Even though Georgia is projected to gain 7,000 troops under the commission's recommendations, it is still in danger of losing four installations.

Among them is Fort McPherson, Ga. The Defense Department wants the U.S. Army Forces Command and Reserve Command to be relocated from the post to what is now Pope Air Force Base in Fayetteville.

While Pope would see more than 4,000 airmen transferred out because the Army would take over the post, nearby Fort Bragg would have a net gain of more than 4,300 jobs.

"Georgia is now in a multimillion dollar campaign to be sure that the growth that we have from these ... recommendations in Fayetteville does not happen," she said.

North Carolina would be doing the same thing had the state lost more jobs, she said.

State officials and military boosters are focusing instead on a hearing by the full commission June 28 in Charlotte, Perdue said.

The meeting, one of 12 regional hearings nationwide, will allow the panel to get feedback on the proposals from officials of North Carolina and South Carolina.

Perdue said hearing speakers will continue to focus on the dedicated efforts to make North Carolina "the most military friendly state in the nation."

Perdue said she's particularly concerned about the transfer of 113 civilian Army researchers from an office in Durham to one in suburban Washington. The scientists generate technology and equipment for the Army that state boosters contend could indirectly help develop businesses and create jobs.

Perdue, a potential 2008 Democratic candidate for governor, said she's not concerned about pushing too hard when North Carolina overall was spared deep cuts.

"We're playing a great defense and offense at the same time," she said.