The nation’s Navy secretary stopped in Port Royal this week. What was he doing?
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro visited Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island this week, where he reviewed recruit training and attended a graduation.
Del Toro was confirmed as the 78th secretary of the Navy on Aug. 7. The Department of the Navy consists of both the Navy and the Marine Corps, and is responsible for the welfare of more than 900,000 sailors, Marines, reservists, and civilian personnel, plus a $2 billion annual budget.
Del Toro visited Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, which is in Port Royal, on Thursday and Friday to observe and gain an understanding of how the Marine Corps conducts entry-level training, said Capt. Philip Kulczewski, a Parris Island spokesman.
During this visit he observed recruit training, interacted with families during graduation events and served as the parade reviewing officer for the Friday’s graduation ceremony of Oscar and Alpha companies.
His visit came as Beaufort County logged a record-breaking number of newly confirmed coronavirus infections as the omicron variant continued to pummel South Carolina.
The Marine Corps has now separated more than 250 Marines due to their refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
In November, Del Toro said active-duty Marines who do not comply with the directive to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by the Nov. 28 deadline would be counseled and given the chance to comply before being forced out, according to a Stars and Stripes story.
“We’re going to counsel them, we’re going to talk to them and we’re going to give them opportunities first,” Del Toro said.
Born in Havana, Cuba, Del Toro immigrated to the United States in 1962, according to the U.S. Naval Academy’s Alumni Association and Foundation. He attended New York City public schools and later received an appointment to the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1983.
As a naval officer throughout numerous tours of duty at sea, he served aboard a frigate, two destroyers, a cruiser, and an aircraft carrier deploying numerous times to the Mediterranean and Black seas during the Cold War, to the Pacific, and to the Persian Gulf three times during Operation Desert Shield and Storm.
In December, Del Toro said during a talk at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that illegal and unreported fishing “is happening on an industrial scale” around the globe, and the culprit often is China’s subsidized fishing fleet, according to U.S. Naval Institute News.
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 2:53 PM.
