Wheeling Native Brig. Gen. Austin ‘Sparky’ Renforth in Command At Parris Island, S.C.
Wheeling’s Renforth Molding Marines at Boot Camp
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WHEELING -- More than 19,000 Marines graduate each year from boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., and their training and molding as soldiers is now the duty and responsibility of a Wheeling native, Brig. Gen. Austin "Sparky" Renforth.
Renforth -- himself a Marine for more than 34 years -- was appointed commanding general at Parris Island in June, and the job also makes him the commanding general of the Marines' eastern recruiting region. He previously served as commanding general of the Marine Corps Training Command at Quantico, Va.
All male recruits on the eastern side of the United States go to boot camp at Parris Island, as do all female recruits from across America.
Renforth regularly takes a motivational run each Thursday with recruits about to graduate from Parris Island the following day.
Boot camp lasts 13 weeks, and a new class graduates each week.
Renforth, 52, said he is well aware of the importance of his leadership.
"The level and scope and responsibility here is huge," he said. "We don't only make America's Marines here, we find them. … The transformation that happens is incredible. All in 13 weeks we instill in them the core values of the Marine Corps -- honor, courage and commitment."
Just 1 percent of America's youth enter the military, and among these are the "few and the proud" who become Marines, according to Renforth. He considers his leadership about "making a difference in people's lives" and giving the recruits direction.
"I know how hard it was for me," he said. "I'm just so thankful for the many who want to be Marines. Without a doubt the world has changed. Military people giving speeches are getting booed off the stage. Flags are being burned. These young people deserve our respect, and they need people like me to take care of them. Whatever values their families, churches and schools have instilled in these young men and women … we appreciate it. There are very patriotic people in the Marine Corps."
And Renforth is among three generations of his family showing their patriotism by becoming Marines. His father, William H. Renforth, was a recruit arriving at Parris Island for training in 1942.
Austin Renforth, meanwhile, enlisted in the U.S. Navy after graduating from Wheeling Park High School in 1982. Two years later, he went on to attend the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated as an officer. He was never a recruit at Parris Island, as officers do not attend boot camp. They instead report for training in Quantico, Va.
And Austin Renforth's son, Maxwell W. Renforth, is a Marine who began his career on the West Coast as a recruit at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. He is presently assigned to the Marine Corps Security Force Regiment in Norfolk, Va., and is a member of FAST Company -- the "Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team."
In May, Austin Renforth addressed the annual state convention of the Marine Corps League in Wheeling just before taking command at Parris Island. He said many of those in Wheeling he spoke with were impressed by his new assignment.
"Parris Island resonates with the old-timers back home who were once Marines, and they are so proud I'm still a Marine," he said. "To think I'm in charge at Parris Island, they love that. They tell me when they're down in South Carolina they always stop to pay homage to Parris Island. They call it the 'University of Parris Island.'"
Parris Island has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since Nov. 1, 1915.