ASHEVILLE - Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue is on a mission - a mission to make North Carolinians more aware of the importance of the state's five major military bases.

The federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission, established in the early 1990s to reduce the number of American military bases and personnel, will resume its work early next year, examining the country's bases with an eye toward closure. The nonpartisan commission will make its recommendations next year.

Here in the Tar Heel state, the annual economic impact of our military bases is $18 billion, or 6 percent of North Carolina's gross state product (total goods and services), according to a study by East Carolina University.

"The governor has asked me to lead North Carolina's effort this year as we get ready for BRAC," Perdue said Thursday afternoon during an interview at the Citizen-Times. "The president and the Congress and Defense Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld have been very forthright in saying it's going to happen, and nobody is going to stop it."

Perdue said Rumsfeld wants to see as much as 25 percent of the nation's existing forces and bases reconfigured or closed, which could have a huge impact on North Carolina. With that in mind, the state will launch an awareness and appreciation campaign in September involving billboards and public service announcements.

Part of what BRAC looks at is if the bases are able to grow and how accommodating states are to military personnel. Perdue noted that the legislature recently allocated $20 million to help bases in urban areas purchase adjacent land at fair market value, took steps to provide college tuition breaks to military personnel and approved license plates that benefit the National Guard.

Perdue, a Democrat, will face Lexington lawyer Jim Snyder, a Republican, in November. Snyder said he too is deeply concerned about the upcoming BRAC work. He wants to see the state do more to show it values its military personnel.

"The bottom line is North Carolina is not doing enough as far as what we can do to support our military personnel," Snyder said, adding he will issue a press release next week on his plan to address this shortcoming. "We've got to let the DOD understand that North Carolina is military friendly and that we want these bases."

Although North Carolina's military bases are in the eastern part of the state, the possibility of base closures reverberates statewide, Perdue said. The ECU study shows that Western North Carolina receives about $28 million annually in economic benefits related to the military, ranging from DOD contracts to military retirees' income.

North Carolina ranks third behind Texas and California in the number of military personnel, about 80,000, and the military generates about 320,000 civilian jobs. Also, 77 of the state's 100 counties have businesses that contract with the Department of Defense.

Perdue stressed that the governor and the state also view the BRAC commission's work as a chance for the existing bases to grow as others are closed. But she is worried about one vulnerable facility in her home county, Craven.

The Naval Air Rework Facility, which repairs military aircraft, is the largest civilian employer east of Interstate 95, with 4,200 employees earning an average of $45,000 annually. It would be a devastating blow to eastern North Carolina if it closed.

"These bases in our state are all located in the poorest part of North Carolina, the 43 counties (of eastern North Carolina)," Perdue said. "If you lopped off those counties and created a 51st state, that 51st state would be the poorest state in America."

Contact Boyle at 232-5847 or JBoyle@CITIZEN-TIMES.com .