US Coast Guard Training Center Cape May Turns 75

CAPE MAY – Several high-ranking officials spoke to U.S. Coast Guard members and recruits, June 8, as part of a 75th anniversary celebration of the Coast Guard’s only training center for enlisted members.
Roughly 80% of the Coast Guard’s workforce goes through boot camp at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May – or TRACEN – not the least of whom is current TRACEN Commanding Officer Capt. Warren Judge.
Judge entered the Coast Guard in 1986 as an enlisted member and was assigned as a cook, serving aboard three cutters, before completing Officers Candidate School (OCS) in 1997.
He returned to TRACEN in 2020 and, June 8, said he was privileged to be there to host the 75th anniversary ceremony, which included Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security John Tien, Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard Adm. Steven Poulin, and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Heath Jones. 
Tien, who retired from the U.S. Army in 2021 with the rank of colonel, spoke about his time at West Point, including the six-week summer program prior to entering the academy, known as “Beast Barracks.”
When Judge pointed out that Coast Guard boot camp was eight weeks, Tien joked that he would return for an additional two weeks of training.
Tien became deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in 2021. The Coast Guard is the only branch of the armed forces under the Department of Homeland Security.
Tien addressed the Coast Guard recruits, who were standing mainly outside the tent-covered area where the event took place, saying when he was named to his position, he wanted to understand Homeland Security from the eyes of the enlisted members.
Regulations prevented him from naming enlisted members as aides, but he selected two officers who had been members of the enlisted ranks before attending OCS. He told the recruits they were the ones who protect the American people and its integrity and values.
Poulin summed up the day’s events saying, “This is one of the coolest things I get to do.”
He complimented the TRACEN staff and recruits, noting they “all looked sharp.”
Poulin said the demand for Coast Guard services is expanding and told the recruits they would become part of an operational command that protects not only the U.S. coastlines but also a marine industry that brings in $5.4 trillion in revenue.
Borrowing a line he heard from a native of Arkansas, Poulin said, “If this (75th anniversary) doesn’t burn a fire in your belly, your wood’s wet.”
Jones referred to the training the recruits received as world-class before commenting on the rainy weather the training center was experiencing.
“A friend from the Army used to say, ‘If it ain’t raining, it ain’t training.’ I just call it ‘good Coast Guard weather,’” Jones said.
TRACEN was created in Cape May after World War II, when the site was a training base for Navy carrier pilots. The Coast Guard maintained an anti-submarine base there.
In 1946, possession of the base was transferred from the Navy to the Coast Guard, and in 1948, it became an enlisted training center for enlisted men.
In 1974, the first group of enlisted women were trained at Cape May, and in 1982, it became the only enlisted training facility in the U.S. Approximately 3,500 recruits go through TRACEN every year.
Judge summed up his feelings about being the TRACEN commanding officer at the time of the 75th anniversary, saying it was “humbling,” especially for someone who had been there as an enlisted member.
He said when he first arrived there from his hometown of Tampa, Florida, he recalls the recruits being told, “You don’t have any business on the other side of Munro (Avenue),” which divides TRACEN areas from administration and other facilities.
“It’s a special feeling to know that I now have a place in Coast Guard history, being the commanding officer at the time of the 75th anniversary,” he said. “That is something you don’t take away.”
Judge accepted a proclamation from the City of Cape May and a resolution from U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd). 
Contact the author, Christopher South at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.