Topeka ? The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee on Monday toured Fort Riley and Forbes Field, and proclaimed them strong candidates for surviving the base closure process.

“You have a real leg up on the competition,” said U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.

Hunter, a Vietnam veteran who represents eastern and northern San Diego County, visited the military posts with U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun, a Republican who serves on the armed services panel and whose district includes Fort Riley in Junction City, Forbes Field in Topeka and the western half of Lawrence.

Hunter touted the work of Fort Riley and Forbes in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Your bases have demonstrated themselves superbly,” he said.

Next year, Congress will take up possible base closures recommended by the Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure process.

The process is expected to close nearly one-fourth of the military installations in the United States.

Kansas also has Fort Leavenworth and McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita. The four major installations in Kansas employ about 40,000 people with an annual payroll of nearly $2 billion.

Hunter said Kansas had major assets to help fend off a base closure: plenty of land and air space, needed missions, excellent facilities and an appreciation for the military. Members of the military, he said, “like to go where they are appreciated.”

Hunter said encroachment by cities and environmental regulations had jeopardized many military installations.

But, he warned, the base closure process will “be a rugged, tough process.”

Ryun said the Kansas bases were efficiently run and assets to their local communities. He said in the Fort Riley area, when people hear a tank firing, they say, “that’s the sound of freedom.”

Ryun and Hunter ended the tour by meeting with state, military and business officials at the Topeka Chamber of Commerce.

Earlier, Lt. Gov. John Moore told lawmakers the state had committed $500,000 and local communities another $500,000 to work on efforts to avoid base closure.

In May 2005, a realignment and closure list will be forwarded to a commission, which will recommend which bases will close in September 2005.