United States Coast Guard Training Center Cape May (TRACENCM) is the home of the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

enlisted corps and is the Coast Guard's only enlisted accession point and recruit training center, located on 1 Munro Avenue,

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay fro ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

History of the training center

Sewell Point, the area occupied by the Training Center, has a long history of naval presence. During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and throughout the nineteenth century,

Cape May Sound A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

was used as a harbor of refuge. In 1917, the Navy established a "section base" in Cape May to provide training, vessel support and communication facilities for coastal defense. Initially, the Navy converted an abandoned amusement center, built along the oceanfront, for military use. The old skating rink became the mess hall and sleeping quarters, the stage was made into a galley, the "human roulette wheel" – a scrub table and the "barrel of fun" became a brig. When the old wooden structure burned down in 1918, the Navy built standard military facilities along the harbor front (some of these buildings still stand). After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the base was adapted to accommodate

dirigibles An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early d ...

. The largest hangar in the world, 700 feet long and over 100 feet tall, was built to accommodate an airship under construction in Britain. However, the

R38 (ZR-2) The ''R.38'' class (also known as the ''A'' class) of rigid airships was designed for Britain's Royal Navy during the final months of the First World War, intended for long-range patrol duties over the North Sea. Four similar airships were o ...

crashed on its test flight and "lighter-than-air" craft were never fully adopted for Navy use. In 1924, the U.S. Coast Guard occupied the base and established air facilities for planes used in support of

United States Customs Service The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...

efforts. During the

Prohibition era Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacturing, manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption ...

, several cutters were assigned to Cape May to foil rumrunners operating off the New Jersey coast. After Prohibition, the Coast Guard all but abandoned Cape May leaving a small air/sea rescue contingent. For a short period of time (1929–1934), part of the base was used as a civilian airport. With the advent of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a larger airstrip was constructed and the Navy returned to train aircraft carrier pilots. The over the water approach simulated carrier landings at sea. The Coast Guard also increased its Cape May forces for coastal patrol, anti-submarine warfare, air/sea rescue and buoy service. In 1946, the Navy relinquished the base to the Coast Guard. In 1948, all entry level training on the east coast was moved to the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Receiving Station in Cape May. The Coast Guard consolidated all recruit training functions in Cape May in 1982. It provides seaman apprentices, fireman apprentices, seamen and firemen to the Coast Guard Fleet – generally en route to "A" schools – as well as sending some personnel directly to "A" schools. Although modern training facilities have replaced most of the original Naval Base buildings, the Coast Guard is respectful of the history of Sewell Point and their host city.

Additional roles

In addition to its role as the sole accession point for the Coast Guard's enlisted corps, TRACENCM contains the Coast Guard's recruiter and company commander (i.e. "drill instructor") programs. Personnel from TRACENCM's ceremonial guard are often called upon by various civic and veterans' organizations to provide an active duty, uniformed military presence at numerous functions throughout the year (e.g. Veterans Day, Memorial Day). The TRACEN maintains its own active duty and reservist staffed military fire and police departments, as well as ambulance service, that are frequently called for mutual aid in the local areas. TRACENCM is also home for and provides logistical support to over a dozen tenant commands. These tenant commands in turn perform support and operational missions that include: Search and Rescue; Military Readiness; Port & Environmental Safety; Commercial Vessel Safety; Enforcement of Laws and Treaties; Marine Environmental Response; Military Readiness; Recreational Boating Safety; Aids to Navigation; and Waterways Management. Members of the

United States Coast Guard Reserve The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Assistant Commandant for R ...

drill at USCG Station Cape May. Locally, there is a robust

United States Coast Guard Auxiliary The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGA, USCGAUX, CGAux, or USCG Aux) is the civilian uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard. Congress established the unit on 23 June 1939, as the United States Coast Guard Reserve ...

presence that plays an integral part in many aspects of maritime, navigational and maritime life in the greater Training Center community.

Delaware Military Academy The Delaware Military Academy (DMA) is a publicly-funded charter high school in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware and has a Wilmington postal address. The Academy was founded in 2003 by Charles Baldwin, a retired Master Chief Petty Offi ...

has their Basic Leadership Training at the center.

Coast Guard Community

Recognizing the enduring relationship between the greater Cape May region, on the evening of Friday, 8 May 2015, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, proclaimed Cape May County a "Coast Guard Community", one of 17 in the nation. Earlier in the year, a resolution drafted by state Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak and Senator

Jeff Van Drew Jefferson H. Van Drew (born February 23, 1953) is an American politician and dentist serving as the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 2nd congressional district since 2019. Formerly a Democrat, he has been a member of the Republican Party s ...

proclaimed the first week of each August as "Coast Guard Week".

Education

Dependent elementary-aged children on the base attend Cape May City Elementary School, the only school of the

Cape May City School District Cape May City School District is a community public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Cape May, New Jersey, United States, at Cape May City Elementary School. As of the 2021–22 school year, the di ...

. In previous eras the Coast Guard children made up a smaller portion of the student body. Because property values increased in Cape May, fewer local families could afford housing, and the number of Cape May students declined. Prior to the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

there were discussions about reducing employee levels and possibly merging Cape May Elementary and

West Cape May Elementary School West Cape May School District is a community public school district located in West Cape May in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. With an average of fewer than 10 students pe ...

. After September 11 the Coast Guard presence increased and enrollment increased. The influx of families from the Coast Guard base meant that the school remained open. The Coast Guard officially adopted Cape May Elementary in 2012 and it spends about $700,000 annually to support the school. Richard Degener of ''

The Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The newspaper designated market runs from Ware ...

'' wrote "What has always been a symbiotic relationship has grown downright cozy". - In print as
Coast Guard a lifeline for Cape May Elementary A school's best friend
Secondary students are zoned to

Lower Cape May Regional School District The Lower Cape May Regional School District (LCMR School District) is regional public school district headquartered in Lower Township, New Jersey, United States, that serves students in seventh through twelfth grades through from four communit ...

facilities: Richard Teitelman Middle School and

Lower Cape May Regional High School The Lower Cape May Regional High School (LCMRHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Lower Township, in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Lower Cape May Regional School District. LCMRH ...

.School Choice Brochure

. Accessed March 21, 2018. "Lower Cape May Regional High School is a four-year comprehensive public High School that serves students from Cape May, West Cape May, Lower Township, Cape May Point and now Choice School students."

Gallery

File:Coast Guard Cutter Rollin A. Fritch, Cape May, NJ.jpg, USCGC ''Rollin A. Fritch'' at Cape May homeport File:Coast Guard Cutters Lawrence Lawson and Rollin Fritch, Cape May, NJ.jpg, USCGC ''Lawrence O. Lawson'' and USCGC ''Rollin A. Fritch'' at homeport

References

External links

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Virtual tour

Recruit Training

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