Annapolis, Md. ? President Bush on Friday defended the Pentagon’s plans to close 180 military installations, telling Naval Academy graduates that the savings would help them win the war against terrorism.

Speaking to nearly 1,000 newly minted Marines and Naval officers, Bush rallied the graduates for their roles in Iraq, Afghanistan and other trouble spots.

Members of the Class of 2005 were settling into life at the Naval Academy when the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, altered the course of their military careers.

“This is your generation’s moment,” Bush told the graduates. “Your mission is necessary and it is noble. The weapons you use will be more powerful and precise than those available to Annapolis graduates who came before you, and you will face enemies they never imagined.”

Bush used the occasion to endorse plans to close military installations the Pentagon considers unnecessary. The target list is under review by an independent base-closing commission, which will send its recommendations to Congress for an up-or-down vote.

The process is all but certain to result in the closure of scores of military bases and other installations. The Pentagon says its plan would save about $48 billion over 20 years, but community leaders across the country are worried about the economic disruption from closing defense facilities.

“Supporting these facilities wastes billions of taxpayers’ dollars, money that can be better spent on giving you the tools to fight terrorists and confront 21st century threats,” Bush said. “It will result in a military that is more efficient and better prepared, so you can better protect the American people against the dangers of this new century.”

President Bush told U.S. Naval Academy graduates that the war on terror has heightened the need to transform America's military by closing unneeded bases at home, adopting new deployment strategies abroad and investing more money in advanced weaponry. Bush spoke Friday at the U.S. Naval Academy Graduation and Commissioning Ceremony in Annapolis, Md.

Friday’s graduates were well aware that their time in the Navy and Marine Corps is likely to be far different than they imagined when they first arrived at the academy. Men and women at the academy have to decide at the end of their sophomore year whether to stay or drop out.

“Everybody here made that choice. I think the majority of us are staying because our jobs are even more important,” said new Navy Ensign Matthew Cole of Endwell, N.Y. “There’s definitely a strong sense of purpose.”