Nancy Mace is making ‘outlandish’ Parris Island closure claims, these Marines say
A group of former Marine Corps officers, including a former commanding general of Parris Island, have signed an open letter condemning South Carolina Republican congressional candidate Nancy Mace’s rhetoric on the possible closure of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, calling her claims “outlandish” and “factually inaccurate.”
In the letter obtained by The State newspaper, five retired Marine officers argue the true threat to the military base in Beaufort County is sea-level rise — not a co-ed training requirement included in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
“To be clear, women are not a threat to the USMC, and Parris Island can easily integrate female recruits into its training program,” it says. “In fact, women have been training on Parris Island for nearly 80 years. Parris Island simply needs funding for a new barracks, which our Congressman and Congressional delegation are committed to providing.”
It continues, “Indeed, despite the overblown rhetoric about gender integration, the truth is that Parris Island does face a serious threat to its survival: sea-level rise.”
The two-page letter is the latest development in an ongoing debate about the future of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, which has been making Marines since 1915.
It’s a topic that also has become a central campaign issue in South Carolina’s closely watched 1st Congressional District race, where Mace, a state lawmaker, is running to unseat U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-Charleston.
The letter
All of the letter’s signers have direct ties to either Parris Island or Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. Among the signatories are Brigadier General Stephen A. Cheney and Jim Wegmann, who was a JAG Officer at Parris Island from 1994 to 1997.
Cheney held command positions at the Marine Corps Recruit Depots in San Diego and Parris Island. He was the Commanding General at Parris Island from 1999 to 2001. He is also the president of the American Security Project, which describes itself as a nonpartisan organization “created to educate the American public and the world about the changing nature of national security in the 21st Century.”
Wegmann is a Beaufort attorney and former Marine who is a member of the S.C. Military Base Task Force board.
Other signers include Col. Warren Parker, who was a lieutenant at Parris Island from 1976 –1978; Col. Roxanne W. Cheney, who was a coordinator for business reform at the Marine Corps Air Station; and Col. Landon K. Thorne, who went through training at Parris Island in 1969-1970.
The letter was sent to the Military Enhancement Committee of Beaufort County on Tuesday.
It was not an endorsement, but the letter did explicitly voice support for Cunningham.
“Congress can and should provide the funding necessary to renovate Parris Island to accommodate female recruits. But we cannot ignore the long-term threat of sea-level rise to Parris Island’s survival. This is something our Congressman, Joe Cunningham, has been working on since he’s been in office. And we agree with him,” the letter said.
‘I’m not using rhetoric’
Mace, the first woman to graduate from The Citadel Corps of Cadets, has repeatedly said the co-ed training requirement will ultimately force Parris Island to close.
Last month, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger told Military.com that the Marine Corps was considering a plan to shutter its two existing boot camp locations at Parris Island and San Diego and, instead, have all recruits report to a new base where men and women would train together.
Since then, Mace has cast blame squarely on Cunningham after he supported a defense bill that included an amendment that required Marines to prohibit gender-segregated training at its pair of boot camps.
“I’m not using rhetoric. This isn’t fiction. I’m dealing with facts. I have not politicized this issue,” Mace said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “This is a problem. The 1st District has multiple military installations and needs to have someone who can represent our military.”
She pointed to her support from military officials in the district, including South Carolina Medal of Honor recipient Maj. Gen. James Livingston. Mace said she would “fight like hell” to protect Parris Island and military families.
By contrast, Mace has said Cunningham was caught not paying attention to issues that directly impact rhe 1st Congressional District, which is home to more veterans than any other in South Carolina.
“I didn’t vote to put Parris Island on the chopping block. Joe Cunningham did. This happened in the House on his watch,” Mace said.
However, there was no explicit vote on whether to keep Parris Island open or closed.
The vote in question
Cunningham voted in favor of the U.S. House version of the defense budget, which included an amendment requiring that the Marines prohibit gender-segregated training at its pair of boot camps.
Parris Island would have five years to carry out the order. San Diego would have eight years to do it.
The final defense budget that was signed into law came out of the Senate and included this amendment from the House version. All of South Carolina’s Washington delegation voted for the final bill’s passage, except for U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, R-Myrtle Beach.
In a pair of debates and in TV ads airing district-wide, Mace has doubled down on this message in the final weeks of the general election, seeking to draw a contrast between herself and Cunningham.
The group of Marines’ letter took a swipe at Mace but didn’t mention her by name. Instead, it refers to her only as, “A candidate running for Congress to represent Beaufort County and the surrounding area.”
It mentioned Cunningham twice by name, praising him for joining other members of the South Carolina delegation on a bill to save Parris Island and for recognizing sea-level rise as an issue.
“We need to have an honest conversation about these challenges, rather than use alarmist political rhetoric to gain a political advantage just to win a Congressional campaign,” the retired Marines said in their letter.
Asked about sea-level rise and its impact on Parris Island, Mace pushed back.
“There is sea-level rise all across the country. We’re seeing that everywhere, but that’s not why Parris Island is on the chopping block,” Mace said.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Nancy Mace is making ‘outlandish’ Parris Island closure claims, these Marines say."
