A company of recruits at Recruit Depot Parris Island will graduate early because of Hurricane Matthew.
Graduation and naturalization ceremonies for several platoons of Charlie Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in the All-Weather Training Facility at the depot, according to a statement released by the Corps on Tuesday afternoon. The event had been scheduled for Friday.
“In accordance with our disaster preparedness order, a meeting was convened (Tuesday) morning with leadership aboard Parris Island in addition to adjacent and higher military commands and representatives from Beaufort County,” depot spokesperson Capt. Greg Carroll wrote in an email to The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
“During the meeting, (depot commander) Brig. Gen Austin E. Renforth made it clear that all actions regarding Hurricane Matthew will be decided with the safety of Marines, to include recruits, sailors and their families, as the number one priority.”
In addition to rescheduling the ceremonies, recruits could be evacuated to a base in Georgia, if weather conditions warrant.
Recruits could end up at “ Logistics Base Albany in accordance with the disaster preparedness order,” the statement said.
An advance group of Marines will travel to that base today in case of an evacuation of Parris Island.
“We are continuing to monitor weather conditions and conduct appropriate actions as deemed necessary in accordance with our disaster preparedness order as practiced annually,” Carroll said.
Wade Livingston: 843-706-8153, @WadeGLivingston
___
(c)2016 The Island Packet (Hilton Head, S.C.) — at www.islandpacket.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
