Military Support

Welcome to the Shaw Sumter Family. As you PCS to our community you will soon discover that the people of Sumter have great patriotic pride in supporting the base mission, military personnel and their families, with an overwhelming display of support for deployed personnel and their families. Base personnel return that support to the community through their unselfish work to improve the quality of education, medical care, spiritual life and humanitarian activities.

Shaw Air Force Base, located within City limits is home to the Air Force's largest combat F-16 wing -- the 20th Fighter Wing -- whose mission is to provide, project and sustain combat-ready air forces. Shaw also serves as home to Headquarters Ninth Air Force/U.S. Air Forces Central (AFCENT), Fifteenth Air Force, and U.S. Army Central Command (ARCENT).

We work very closely with Shaw, on a daily basis, with a team of current and former elected officials, city personnel and military retirees in support of Shaw’s airmen, soldiers and their families. We continuously strive to keep Sumter and Shaw’s reputation at the forefront of the DOD base preference. 

Sumter has an active land protection program around Shaw AFB, to date we have secured over 3000 acres of land surrounding the base to keep development from encroaching to close. Land use near military installations is always a concern. New residential and commercial development along with increasing competition for land, airspace and water access can constrain training, testing and other military base activities.

We also partner with Shaw through the following programs:

• South Carolina Military Base Task Force
• Shaw-Sumter Community Council
• Honorary Commanders Program
• Weasel Welcome Program
• ARCENT Newcomers Briefing 
• Taste of Sumter Community Bus Tours
• Shaw Spouses Club
• Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee
• Joint public safety training and support programs through our Fire and Police Departments
• and many events on and off base to support active duty, retirees, personnel and their families.

• Shaw’s overall Annual Economic Impact on Sumter region: $1.7B ($2.3B in the state)
• Labor Income generated for Sumter region: $1B
• Employment Impact: 11,671
• Number of veterans in Sumter: 16,381
• Number of active duty, military family, and retirees: over 31,000

Welcome to the Shaw-Sumter community!