Rep. Paul Ryan Speaks on Defense Cuts to Fayetteville Area

Fort Bragg, home to the 82nd Airborne, the Joint Special Operations Command, the Army Reserve Command and Forces Command, will most certainly be affected by possible defense cuts, which could amount to $1.2 billion in Cumberland County alone after Jan. 2.

Presumptive Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan spoke about just that to a select group of 120 guests Thursday afternoon during his Fayetteville visit.

Agreeing with the crowd that the Senate has not been active in pursuing solutions, Ryan said the current budget-cutting agreement puts the military at risk and vowed that Mitt Romney will protect the defense sector from undergoing cuts.

"The only way we maintain this exceptional nation – this American idea – is because our veterans have time and again, generation after generation, secured it for us," Ryan said in a WRAL news report. "It's our duty to preserve this legacy, to support our voluntary (military) force of men and women ... and not let them be pawns in a political game."

From larger contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Booz Allen Hamilton to smaller contractors run owned by Fort Bragg Veterans like K3, the Fayetteville, N.C., community could be hit hard, which in the end means a loss of jobs.

According to the N.C. Military Business Center, companies in 85 North Carolina counties have contracts with the Department of Defense. These 10 counties did the most business in fiscal year 2011:

Onslow - $1.3 billion

Cumberland - $1.2 billion

Craven - $244 million

Wake - $166 million

Rockingham - $148 million

Mecklenburg - $103 million

Guilford - $90 million

Durham - $86 million

Wayne - $72 million

Moore - $63 million