Sen. Lindsey Graham says "It ain't gonna happen", to the closing of Parris Island.

[Mongoose]

1. Military News

'Ain't Gonna Happen!' Politicians Vow to 'Fight Like Hell' to Protect Parris Island from Closure

A drill instructor speaks with his recruits for the first time Oct. 26, 2013, on Parris Island, S.C. (U.S. Marine Corps/Cpl. Caitlin Brink)

25 Sep 2020
Military.com | By Gina Harkins

The mere possibility of the Marine Corps shaking up where it trains new recruits has drawn swift backlash -- at least in one state.
Political leaders in South Carolina are "activating" a task force to meet next week following Military.com's exclusive Thursday report that the Marine Corps is weighing the option of opening a new boot camp site. Such a move would mean a big change for the service, which has historically sent new enlistees to its legendary recruit depots in San Diego and Parris Island, South Carolina.


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"It ain't gonna happen!" Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, tweeted on Friday. "If you're looking to save money -- let's start with cutting those people who think closing Parris Island is a good idea.
"Anyone in the Navy or Marine Corps thinking about closing Parris Island has limited growth potential," Graham, a retired Air Force Reserve colonel, added.
Read Next:Marines Weigh Closing Parris Island and San Diego to Open New Coed Boot Camp
Marine leaders have stressed that no decisions about changing training sites have been made. The Post and Courier newspaper in South Carolina reported that leaders in the state said they'd still been blindsided by the news that a change was even possible.
"The heart of the United States Marine Corps beats on Parris Island, and Beaufort County has proudly welcomed recruits from all over the country for generations," Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican, said in a statement to Military.com. "I am confident that as they review plans for consolidated training, the Marine Corps will determine that Parris Island makes the most sense both financially and logistically to train Marines for decades to come. Parris Island will not close."
Rep. Joe Cunningham, a South Carolina Democrat, tweeted on Friday, that he'll "fight like hell" to keep Parris Island open.
"Our Lowcountry military bases are so important to our culture, economy, and national security," he said, referring to the state's coastal region.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, also stressed the importance of the training depot's historic and economic ties to the state.
"Simply put, there is nothing Governor McMaster won't do to protect Parris Island and its status as one of the best military training installations in the world," Brian Symmes, McMaster's spokesman, said.
Capt. Joe Butterfield, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, said the service is "simply exploring all options" as it faces a congressional mandate to make its entry-level enlisted training coed. The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act directs the Marine Corps to implement gender-integrated training at Parris Island within five years and at San Diego within eight.
Female recruits currently only ship to Parris Island, and have historically trained in separate companies from men. That changed last year when the first-ever coed company graduated from Parris Island.
The Marine Corps has since trained more coed companies, but Commandant Gen. David Berger said on Thursday that the service's aging training facilities at its depots won't support it year-round.
"Nothing, the way we're organized right now, lends itself to integrated recruit training," Berger said, adding that they'd need to make changes on both coasts or look at a "third location."
Butterfield added on Friday that, due to a variety of limitations, "neither Marine Corps Recruit Depots Parris Island nor San Diego are currently able to optimally train recruits in an integrated environment."
"We are exploring all options to accomplish this integration, while also realizing the vision of the 38th Commandant's Planning Guidance related to modernization of our training facilities to ensure our Marines remain capable, relevant and lethal in the future," he said.
McMaster announced on Friday that the South Carolina Military Base Task Force "has been activated." Next week, the governor tweeted, "federal, state and local officials will convene for a commanders briefing on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island."
The task force, according to the state's website, coordinates with public and private sectors "to maintain a significant U.S. Department of Defense presence in South Carolina." The task force also addresses quality-of-life issues for service members and their families in the state.
The governor's office did not respond to questions about how much revenue Parris Island brings to the state annually. Though boot camp graduations have been halted during the coronavirus pandemic, they typically bring people from across the country to South Carolina.

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[USMC 2571]

Nice to hear someone standing up to these idiots.

[Mongoose]

But, will it do any good?? Talking don't work anymore and being nice damn sure don't. If the Progressives get their way, they will de-fund the U.S. Military and bring in UN Troops.

[USMC 2571]

Billy and I were talking about this last night on the phone, and I said it is my opinion that when you see big changes proposed, that those people want to change EVERYTHING, they don't want any trace of the past way of doing things to be there. So rather than remodel the base facilities, they would, I think, rather wipe the slate completely clean and start over-----------this is the way they think about America. A lot of these fools would love to start all over again, after destroying the United States.

[oldtop]

EXACTLY, Dave.... I like the statement that Graham made: "Anyone in the Navy or Marine Corps thinking about closing Parris Island has limited growth potential," ... sounds to me like he's giving a veiled warning to the "progressives" in the Navy and Corps that they need to back off or lose their careers... like a "mess with the best, die like the rest" kind of thing .....

[USMC 2571]

William, most of these chumps have no idea that the freedom to make changes is something they will no longer HAVE once the changes are implemented. They think these rights re freedom are something guaranteed til the end of time, and they are not. They have to be protected, but these types of people nowadays think things will be fine once the system is utterly destroyed. They have no idea that they will be told what to do and when to do it,

[Cpl Keller]

Re: Top's post
Yes, that's how I read his statement as well. And I don't understand the Commandant's statement that the facilities don't lend themselves to integrated training. Sound like a b/s excuse to push for a new recruit depot.

[oldtop]

Dave, all I can say is that they are surely in for a very, very RUDE AWAKENING...., just sayin....

[USMC 2571]

So are we. The way more and more and more people hate this country of ours.

[oldtop]

Mike, that is definitely a possibility, but the big question is WHY??? In recent years, the Corps has utilized more and more training facilities of other services, while accepting members of other branches in MC schools... all in the name of "consolidation and equalization"... as well as limitation of "duplication of training resources"... maybe this commandant envisions just sending our recruits to ARMY or NAVY boot camp for initial training???...
Dave, all I can say it that "the haters going to hate"... but hopefully, in the not too distant future we will be able to "help them see the light", or run their sorry communist loving azzes out of our country and let them "taste" communism as it really is in someplace like Venezuela or Cuba, or maybe even China...

[Mongoose]

Thing is, it seems like a declared war on all our proud American traditions and Institutions, as well as a crusade to degrade White Americans. As we should all know you can only win wars by being more vicious and more aggressive than your enemy. This shet will keep getting worse, unless we show them what real Warriors are made of.......just saying.....

[BravoSixActual]

"The raising of that flag on Suribachi means a Marine Corps for the next 500 years."*

*Give or take 425 years.

[oldtop]

It occurs to me that if one wants to destroy the military might of this country, the FIRST place to start "tearing down and destroying tradition" would be with the branch that has the reputation of being "FIRST to fight, and LAST to retreat"... the branch that is seeped in tradition and camaraderie to the point that it's members STILL consider themselves MARINES FIRST years after actually leaving the service. Members that believe that their oath to "uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America" has NO EXPIRATION DATE ... once the toughest job has been done, and that special service neutered, then the others should be easy to disband or destroy....