Storm sends Lowcountry troops to Fort Jackson, jets away from Shaw

Fort Jackson is preparing for military evacuees from the Lowcountry, including from the Marines Corps’ training facility at Parris Island near Beaufort, a post spokesman said Wednesday.

In addition, Shaw Air Force Base is set to fly some of its F-16 fighter jets to safer locations by Thursday afternoon, a spokeswoman said. The base has hangar space for some of its 79 F-16 jets, but the rest are to be relocated, said Staff Sgt. Laura Claypool.

It’s not clear yet how many personnel from Parris Island, the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, Joint Base Charleston (which includes the Charleston Air Force Base and, the Charleston Naval Weapons Station) will arrive at Fort Jackson, said Fort Jackson spokesman Pat Jones. Each facility is determining whether to send personnel and how many.

“Right now we’re in the preparatory stage,” Jones said. Post personnel “are looking all over the post (for available space) ... Who’s got what? How many bed spaces do we have?”

Fort Jackson officials are looking into the number of unused spaces in barracks – both those normally used by Army recruits as well as more private barracks for soldiers and their families, he said. Vacancies at the post’s 200-bed on-post hotel also are being checked.

Claypool, a spokeswoman for the 20th Fighter Wing based at Shaw, said the base will not disclose how many jets are being moved or to where because of security considerations. They will start flying out within 24 hours, she said late Wednesday afternoon.

It takes of a lot of people to fly, service and maintain each jet and they also will be relocated, she said. Citing security reasons, Claypool would not say how many people will be moved with the jets.