Study reinforces military's impact.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: Tar Heel Tattler

For years, politicians have warned that North Carolina is splitting into two states--east and west, urban and rural, one rich and one poor. The process isn't further along primarily because of a segment of the Eastern North Carolina economy--military bases--that developed mostly by happenstance.

Now, given plans to cut bases nationwide by 25% in 2005, there's a move to make sure the state isn't left reciting an old saw: You don't know what you've got until it's gone. "Folks who live in Charlotte and places like that might not be aware of the contributions of the military," Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue says. "This is the silent economy."

In this case, silence really is golden. East Carolina University's Regional Development Institute, acting on a $20,000 contract from the Governor's Advisory Commission on Military Affairs, recently pegged the value of the military's payrolls, contracts with local businesses and money paid to retirees and others at $18.1 billion a year, about 6% of the gross state product and double previous estimates (cover story, February). As a segment of the state's economy, the military is exceeded only by the manufacturing, service, government and retail sectors.

Gov. Michael Easley has asked Perdue to head the effort to shield the bases from the federal Base Re-alignment and Closing Commission. Most sources don't think that either the study or lobbying will sway the commission. "Our hope is that we...