Parris Island commander Terry Williams relinquishing role in June

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island’s commander will step down in June, a Marine Corps spokesman confirmed Thursday.

Brig. Gen. Terry Williams had been in command of Parris Island and the Eastern Recruiting Region since June 2014. He will be replaced by Brig. Gen. Austin Renforth, currently the commanding general of Marine Corps Training Command in Quantico, Va.

The ceremony will be at 2 p.m. June 10 at Parris Island’s All Weather Training Facility. Invitations to the ceremony were delivered by email this week.

The change of command was planned and not the result of recent incidents at the depot, spokesman Capt. Gregory Carroll said Thursday. Commanders typically serve two years, he said.

Williams will leave for Washington, D.C., to become assistant deputy commandant for Installations and Logistics, a position currently held by Maj. Gen. Vincent A. Coglianese.

Williams was the Depot’s first black commander, having replaced its first female commander, Brig. Gen. Lori Reynolds, in 2014. Before overseeing recruit training at Parris Island, Williams was the Marine Corps’ public affairs director.

He has been in the Marine Corps since being commissioned as an officer in 1986 after graduating from UCLA, according to his biography on Parris Island’s website.

During his tenure at Parris Island, Williams presided over the Corps’ centennial celebration this past October, graduated 38,000 Marines and oversaw $67 million worth of construction projects, including Parris Island’s new front gate.

Renforth joined the U.S. Navy in 1982 and later graduated from the Naval Academy. Renforth served as a platoon commander in the Gulf War and as a battalion commander during deployments supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Williams leaves following a series of recent incidents at the Depot, including the death of a recruit, the dismissal of a battalion commander and an attack on a recruit on Easter.

Recruit Raheel Siddiqui died March 18, just 11 days after arriving at Parris Island. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service said Siddiqui died after an almost 40-foot fall in a barracks stairwell.

Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon was relieved of his command of the Third Recruit Training Battalion on March 31. The decision was made before Siddiqui’s death, Carroll said at the time.

The change of command in June is a routine transition, Carroll said. Before Williams, recent tenures spanned three years, two years and 14 months.

This story was originally published May 12, 2016 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Parris Island commander Terry Williams relinquishing role in June."