Parris Island commander Terry Williams relinquishing role in June

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island’s commander will step down in June, according to invitations to the ceremony delivered by email this week.

Brig. Gen. Terry Williams had been in command of Parris Island and the Eastern Recruiting Region since June 2014. He will be replaced by Brig. Gen. Austin Renforth, the invitation said.

The ceremony will be at 2 p.m. June 10 at Parris Island’s All Weather Training Facility.

Williams was the Depot’s first black commander, having replaced its first female commander, Brig. Gen. Lori Reynolds, in 2014. Before overseeing recruit training at Parris Island, Williams was the Marine Corps’ public affairs director.

Williams has been in the Marine Corps since being commissioned as an officer in 1986 after graduating from UCLA, according to his biography on Parris Island’s website.

Renforth is currently the commander of Marine Corps Training Command in Quantico, Va., according to the Marine Corps website.

Williams leaves following a series of high-profile incidents at the Depot, including the death of a recruit, the dismissal of a battalion commander and the attack on a wheelchair-bound recruit on Easter Sunday.

Recruit Raheel Siddiqui died March 18, just 11 days after arriving at Parris Island. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service said Siddiqui died after an almost 40-foot fall in a barracks stairwell.

Lt. Col. Joshua Kissoon was relieved of his command of the Third Recruit Training Battalion on March 31. The decision was made before Siddiqui’s death, a Parris Island spokesman said.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 8:37 AM.