WASHINGTON – Marine recruits were ordered Tuesday to evacuate their famed Parris Island training base as Hurricane Florence takes aim at the Carolinas, and preparations were ordered to evacuate sailors and other personnel from the world's largest naval base in Virginia.

Meanwhile, pilots flew their F-15 fighters and KC-135 tankers from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in South Carolina to safety in Louisiana.

Late Tuesday, the Army named Ft. Bragg in North Carolina and Ft. A. P. Hill in Virginia as staging areas for relief efforts directed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And governors in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland prepared to activate thousands of National Guard soldiers for relief efforts.

In South Carolina, Marine Brig. Gen. James Glynn ordered the recruits to retreat to a logistics base in Georgia to continue their training. They will be accompanied by Marines and civilians deemed essential to their mission. Other civilians were told to move at least 100 miles inland from the base.

Parris Island lies north of Hilton Head Island near the southern tip of South Carolina. Forecasts show the region within the area where Hurricane Florence is expected to make landfall.

Farther north, in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia, the Navy Tuesday afternoon authorized the emergency evacuation of sailors, civilians and their dependents. Hampton Roads is home to the largest concentration of naval bases in the world, including the sprawling Naval Station Norfolk.

The Marine Corps’ history at Parris island dates to the Civil War when it was used as a coaling stop for the Union navy. It evolved into a major training hub by World War I. And in World War II, more than 200,000 recruits were trained there.

"I have determined the safest course of action is to evacuate," Glynn said in a statement. "For everyone's safety, I have issued the evacuation order well ahead of the storm in an effort to ensure everyone is able to seek refuge before the storm impacts the area."

Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, are being ordered to shelter in place, said Maj. Brian Block, a Marine Corps spokesman.

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