Parris Island recruits will be housed at The Citadel as coronavirus precaution
Marine recruits will be housed at The Citadel before they begin boot camp as a precaution to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Recruits who would ship to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island will now spend two weeks in quarantine at the Charleston military school. A deal between the Marine Corps and Citadel was approved by the State Fiscal Accountability Authority on Tuesday and takes effect Friday.
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, who ordered public schools closed in March as coronavirus spread, said the Marine recruits are “jammed in tents” on Parris Island and that The Citadel will allow for more space. In voicing his support for the Marines deal, the governor said he is in regular contact with U.S. Army leadership at Fort Jackson in Columbia and believes proper precaution will be taken.
“Given the highly successful routines they have at Fort Jackson, I’m confident the Marines can do it as well,” McMaster said during the State Fiscal Accountability Authority meeting.
Under the lease, the Marine Corps will pay The Citadel $750,000 for each barracks used per month, with the amount of the contract not do exceed $4.9 million. As many as 1,800 recruits and Marine personnel could use the facilities each week.
Parris Island only expects 300 recruits and 600 Marine personnel to be housed on campus, the base said in a statement Tuesday.
Beginning Monday, recruits will report directly to Charleston. Recruits will be screened twice a day and won’t leave The Citadel, the depot said.
After 14 days, recruits will return to Parris Island to begin training.
State officials say the lease won’t interfere with The Citadel resuming classes when coronavirus restrictions are lifted,
Marines would have access to laundry, cleaning and dining services, transportation on campus and gyms and other open areas for physical activity. Marines can also use medical facilities, mail service, classroom space and areas for religious services.
The Marine Corps temporarily paused new recruit arrivals to address the spread of COVID-19 on base. The depot began receiving recruits again last week, with one male company and one female company arriving.
Incoming recruits have been quarantined the first 14 days in tents on Parris Island before beginning formal training. The Citadel allows for physical buildings with access to all the facilties recruits need, a Marine Corps statement said.
“This partnership enables our continuing mission of making Marines while enhancing our staging capabilities and preparation for potential destructive weather,” the statement said.
Marines have instituted distancing measures in eating and sleeping arrangements and in some drill formations. Some close-contact training continues, including martial arts after recruits have been on Parris Island about 30 days into their 12-week training.
More than three dozen positive cases of coronavirus were reported from Parris Island’s 29905 zip code before the base’s cases were consolidated with 29902, with includes the city of Beaufort. State health officials have reported 81 cases from 29902.
The agreement was approved over the objections of S.C. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, the lone dissenting vote on the State Fiscal Accountability Authority. Eckstrom, who served in the Navy and was the commanding general of the S.C. State Guard, said bringing hundreds of recruits onto the campus after cadets had asked to be cleared out contradicted McMaster’s guidelines on social distancing and was too risky.
“It’s a good opportunity if it works out; it could turn into a nightmare if it doesn’t,” Eckstrom said during the board’s meeting. “The hope of generating some revenue out of this one could turn into a bitter disappointment if this thing goes the wrong way.”
State Rep. Murrell Smith Jr., , the House budget chairman, said helping the military was the state’s duty and that The Citadel would not have volunteered to take on the Marines if it felt at risk or incapable.
“I want to make sure we answered the call of duty that the Marines have asked us to,” Smith told Eckstrom.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 2:47 PM.
