A September 2024 graduation ceremony at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. (Gregory Schell/U.S. Coast Guard)
The Coast Guard said Thursday it will spend $400 million to demolish obsolete barracks and build new sleeping, dining, training and other facilities at its historic training center in Cape May, N.J.
The Coast Guard Training Center Cape May — known as TRACEN — is where all future Coast Guard enlisted personnel go through the equivalent of military boot camp.
The Coast Guard said the money is the single largest expenditure for a shore facility in the service’s history.
The current training facility can handle about 5,500 recruits per year, the Coast Guard said. After the renovations and construction, the center will be able to process 8,000 recruits per year.
“The Coast Guard will use this funding to solidify TRACEN Cape May as the nation’s premier location for developing military enlisted members,” the service said in a press release.
The Coast Guard has had a presence at Cape May since 1924. The Navy used the base to train carrier pilots during World War II. It reverted to a Coast Guard facility in 1948, when it was designated as the training center for the eastern United States. All new enlisted Coast Guard recruits have received their initial training at the facility since 1982.
The Coast Guard will spend $400 million to demolish obsolete barracks and build new sleeping, dining, training and other facilities at its historic training center in Cape May, N.J. (David Micallef/U.S. Coast Guard)
A U.S. Coast Guard company commander demonstrates pushups to a recruit during incentive training at the Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J., on April 18, 2025. (Samantha Whaley/U.S. Coast Guard)
A company commander reviews his company at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J., on Dec. 9, 2024. (Christopher Biggs/U.S. Coast Guard)
The Cape May project will demolish two older barracks, build a new dorm and galley, construct a training facility that will include an indoor drill area and a running track, revamp the parade ground and graduation ceremony facilities, build a new fire station and upgrade electrical and utility systems.
“By improving living spaces and facilities, we are not only bettering the quality of life for recruits, staff and their families, but also enhancing our service readiness and ensuring the Coast Guard is able to meet the future demands of the nation,” Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Phil Waldron, the service’s top enlisted member, said in the release.
The work at Cape May is part of a Coast Guard plan to expand its recruiting and training facilities.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the service, announced March 5 that it paid $126.5 million to purchase the 1,926-acre campus of the former Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Ala. The Coast Guard will convert it to a second training center for enlisted recruits to supplement the Cape May training center.
Coast Guard officer cadets attend the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
More than 76,000 members of the Coast Guard operate 220 cutters, 185 fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, 1,300 boats, and a cyber command to protect critical maritime infrastructure, according to the service’s website.
Whiting Turner Contracting Company, based in Baltimore, will perform the design and construction work for the Cape May renovations.
