The United States Coast Guard, the only branch of the United States military that falls under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), announced last week that its Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) accession numbers were the highest it has seen since 1991. All branches of the U.S. military met their respective recruiting goals last fiscal year.
The Coast Guard recruited 5,204 active-duty enlisted service members, 121% of its target of 4,300 members for FY25, which began on October 1, 2024, and ended on September 30, 2025. The USCG also commissioned 371 new officers, representing roughly 101% of the FY25 goals, and met its reserve accession goal for a third consecutive year.
“The Coast Guard far exceeded our recruiting goals in Fiscal Year 2025, showing that more Americans want to serve in the Coast Guard than ever before,” Adm. Kevin Lunday, the acting commandant of the Coast Guard, said in a media release. “Thanks to our recruiters for their great success. We aren’t just growing – we are bringing in the best talent from across the United States and building the workforce of the future.”
In May, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced Force Design 2028, a blueprint that calls for the Coast Guard to meet the challenges of the future. This surge in recruits will help support further growth with the USCG, which has set a goal of having up to 15,000 additional personnel.
The Coast Guard is charged with patrolling and protecting 95,000 miles of shoreline, 25,000 miles of navigable rivers, and 4.5 million square miles of U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
New Training Space Required
The increased size of the USCG will require an additional training facility. Currently, all enlisted recruits train at Cape May, New Jersey, the service’s only training center.
“As the Coast Guard continues its historic growth, we’re outpacing the capacity of our existing training and workforce support facility,” Lunday further said in remarks as part of a USCG video. “To grow and train our force, we need more space.”
On Monday, the United States Coast Guard and the DHS announced a Request for Information (RFI) and market research to identify prospective locations for additional training as the service continues to expand.
The market research study will be used to identify potential facilities nationwide that could support the projected growth of the Coast Guard.
Minimum Requirements
The Coast Guard has identified the key “minimum requirements” for any potential training center. It would need to have lodging for at least 1,200 recruits and a dining facility capable of seating 400 personnel at a time. It would also require a medical facility to support 1,000 personnel, with a minimum of 200 medical encounters and 200 dental encounters per day.
The facility would require an auditorium with a capacity of 500 or more students, along with at least 14 classrooms that can accommodate 30 to 60 students each.
Given the aquatic nature of the Coast Guard, the facility would require a pool with at least six lanes, a minimum length of 25 yards, and a minimum depth of four feet. A “multipurpose gymnasium/athletic/sports facility” that could accommodate 1,200 personnel would also be needed. The service announced earlier this year it would require a physical fitness test (PFT) for all their members.
The facility would need to have office space for 400 staff members, be located on land consisting of 150 to 250 acres, and have proximity to a small commercial service or a larger airport, within a 30-mile radius.
“The Coast Guard is providing communities meeting the screening criteria an opportunity to submit potential candidate locations by responding to the RFI at SAM.gov. The Coast Guard is accepting responses to this RFI until Dec. 8, 2025,” the service explained. “Potential candidates will receive additional information from the Coast Guard as part of the assessment process, based on the approved requirements and evaluation criteria.”
