Congressman Van Drew highlighted the continued strength of U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May following the Coast Guard’s announcement that it plans to establish an additional training center in Alabama to help meet growing national training needs.
“This is good news for Cape May, good news for the Coast Guard, and good news for our country,” said Congressman Van Drew. “Cape May is the main training center for the entire nation, and that is not changing. With the $495 million in federal investments we have secured, the Training Center Cape May is thriving and stronger than it has ever been. This includes the single largest federal investment in the history of South Jersey, and the Coast Guard has given us a written commitment ensuring these funds come solely to our Training Center.
The Coast Guard even plans to increase Cape May’s capacity to train about 5,000 more recruits each year. We are seeing a renewed interest in serving our country. As more young Americans step forward to defend our nation, we need to keep expanding our capacity so we can keep our Coast Guard strong and ready. That is what this second training center is about: building on Cape May’s success and preparing for the future.”