CAPE MAY – The U.S. Coast Guard Training Center-Cape May said farewell June 24 to Capt. Warren Judge and welcomed Capt. Amanda Lee as the commanding officer of the nation’s only Coast Guard training facility.
Lee is an attorney who last year she served as special assistant to the commandant of the Coast Guard. Prior to that, she worked in the Coast Guard’s Office of Congressional and Governmental Affairs. She also served as a senior trial counsel and senior appellate counsel, as well as military adviser, to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
Lee, who earned her juris doctor from the University of Connecticut in 2011, said she hoped to continue operating as Judge did, saying, “His energy is infectious.”
She referred to her father, who did two tours in Vietnam, with the 82nd and then 101st Airborne Divisions, and who earned two Purple Hearts in the process. She passed along his advice to those under her new command, saying, “What you are doing matters.” For her, she said, it was training the best fighting force in the world.
Lee called on those under her command to “take care of yourself and others.”
Rear Adm. Jeff Randall told Lee that, as the incoming commanding officer, her number one mission is the training of the recruits.
“Building the next generation of leaders starts here,” Randall said.
Sean Plankey, senior adviser to the secretary for the Coast Guard, said Lee was well-versed in her charge as commander and had unique opportunities to grow the Cape May training center over the next three years.
That time period is the standard assignment for training center commanders, who often pick up the rank of admiral upon their next assignment.
Plankey promised his support for Lee. “My charge to you is to tell me what you need, and to be loud,” he said.
Judge is leaving Cape May to serve as the chief of staff, Fifth Coast Guard District, in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Judge, who started his own career in 1986 at the Cape May center, impressed his colleagues, superiors and the workforce as a down-to-earth individual who, despite being the top-ranking officer at the center, would do morning physical training with the recruits.
Randall pointed out this tendency and joked that he would have made Judge do push-ups if not for the danger of being injured by the sword he was wearing.
He credited Judge with “making strides to close the staffing gaps” in the Coast Guard, saying that under his watch the Coast Guard had the highest recruitment levels since 2002 – the year after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Randall said the attrition rate also dropped under Judge’s command, from 20% to 13%.
Judge received a standing ovation on his departure. He said he was humbled by the turnout and show of appreciation for his service. He referred to his beginning in the Coast Guard, speaking of a “young Coast Guard recruit from Tampa, Florida” who found he had to prove himself with every challenge.
“Nearly 39 years later I stand before you, and I tell you, I’m grateful,” he said.
He thanked everyone who participated in the training and operation of the base, from his senior staff to the company commanders and recruits, to the chaplains, to the dining hall workers and the barbers who gave weekly haircuts.
He also expressed appreciation to his wife, Angela, saying, “You held me up.” Several of the speakers also praised Angela Judge for exceptional duty as the commander’s wife.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
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