‘Rising star’ who oversaw changes at Parris Island is moving on. Meet her replacement
Brigadier General Julie Nethercot — credited with overseeing key training and environmental advances at U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal, during a pandemic — is leaving South Carolina for a new post in Florida.
Nethercot transferred command to Brigadier General Walker M. Field in a ceremony Friday.
Lt. General Kevin Iiams, who serves as the commanding general of U.S. Marine Corps Training and Education, described Nethercot as a rising Marine Corps star whose forward thinking and planning expertise resulted in advances in gender integration and environmental protections during her time as commanding general, which he called “one of the most complex jobs.”
“Everything you touch — absolute gold,” Iiams told Nethercot during the change of command.
The base trains about 19,000 Marines a year — 16,000 men and 3,000 women — and also is in charge of recruiting Marines across the Eastern Seaboard. In 2020, it’s economic impact on the Lowcountry was $739 million.
As 600 Marines, family members and civilians watched — not including those who were tuned in to the livestream — Nethercot relinquished her command by passing a flag signifying the Marine Corps Recruit Depot and eastern recruiting region to Field, who accepted the command when he took it.
Field may have big shoes to fill but he’s no slouch. He joins Parris Island after serving as president of Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia.
And 31 years ago, Field stood in Parris Island’s famous yellow footprints getting barked at by drill sergeants after arriving as a recruit. Now Field is Parris Island’s 56th commander.
During her two years in charge, Nethercot was credited with keeping Marine training going strong during a global pandemic. Despite COVID-19, Nethercot noted, Parris Island kept the pipeline filled with recruits and kept training them.
“We did not take a knee on recruit training,” Nethercot said.
All told, 35,000 recruits were trained during the pandemic, she said.
Further integrating men and women in training was another accomplishment. When Nethercot arrived, Parris Island had one battalion training women. As she departs, all four of its battalions are integrated. And under her watch, male recruits graduated for the first time in Marine Corps history from the Fourth Battalion.
Nethercot also was credited for overseeing improvements addressing environmental issues. For example, improvements at the weapons firing facilities are now keeping lead out of nearby waters. And roads and other infrastructure upgrades are guarding against rising sea levels and flooding.
Behind the scenes, Nethercot said, the 8,000-acre Parris Island is basically a 10,000-person city in the Lowcountry that feels like home, telling Field that it “will get into your soul.”
“This community,” Nethercot said, “embraces the Depot.”
Nethercot is moving to the U.S. Southern Command in Miami, where she will serve as director of J5 Strategy and Plans, which proposes strategies, plans, and policy recommendations to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
At Parris Island, no task was too small for Nethercot, who noted in her farewell remarks that one of her most enjoyable moments was helping to pick out a cute English bulldog pup to serve as the new Marine mascot.
The pup, named Opha Mae II, is named after the first female Marine recruit, Opha Mae Johnson, who enlisted in 1918.
This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 6:36 PM.
