Coast Guard Recruitment Exceeds Goals for Third Straight Year

Congressman Jeff Van Drew was thrilled on Oct. 9.

“Today,” read a press release, “Congressman Van Drew celebrated news that the United States Coast Guard recruited its largest class in nearly 40 years, exceeding its recruitment goals for the third straight year.”

“These are brave men and women who are answering the call to protect our nation, and they deserve the very best,” said Van Drew. “That is exactly why I fought so hard to secure over $400 million to modernize Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. Every enlisted Coast Guardsman begins their journey right here in South Jersey, and with recruitment reaching levels we have not seen in decades, this investment could not be more important. We are building new barracks and training facilities to prepare Cape May for this growth and strengthen the Coast Guard for generations to come. I could not be prouder that South Jersey is playing such an important role in serving our nation.”

There will be a huge increase in recruits training in Cape May in the coming years. The reason – in July 2025 the Coast Guard welcomed a nearly $25 billion investment included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” – the largest single commitment of funding in service history.

The Coast Guard had been chronically underfunded and undermanned for many decades, the reason being although it is one of the six U.S. Armed forces, it is not part of the Department of Defense and its huge budget. One part of it, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, was founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1790. In 1915 it merged with the United States Life-Saving Service to create the modern Coast Guard. In 1939 it absorbed the U.S. Lighthouse Service as well.

Except for WWI and WWII, when it became part of the U.S. Navy, the Coast Guard wasn’t funded by the Department of Defense. It was a part of the Department of the Treasury until 1967, when it operated under the Department of Transportation. In 2002 it became one of the components of the new and sprawling Department of Homeland Security. However, it still didn’t receive per-capita funding relative to the Navy, Army, Marines and Air Force. The One Big Beautiful Bill helped to make up for that deficiency.

That infusion of funds kickstarted plans to grow the Coast Guard significantly. It will allow the service to procure an estimated 17 new icebreakers (it currently has just three, including its only heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, commissioned way back in 1976). Toss in 21 new cutters, over 40 helicopters, six C-130 aircraft, modernizing shore infrastructure such as the Cape May Training Center, and it’s easy to see the Coast Guard will have to increase its number of personnel.

The Guard plans to add at least 15,000 active-duty and reserve members by Fiscal Year 2028. That’s why it recently added recruiting offices in Miami, Long Island, Austin and, of all places, the Netherlands.

Even with 15,000 new members, Coasties will still have plenty to do.

In 2025 the Coast Guard, operating in the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean, seized over 511,000 pounds of narcotics, valued at more than $3.8 billion. It was the largest annual maritime drug interdiction in the service’s history.

Meanwhile, it conducted 6,705 search and rescue sorties, saving 5,220 lives while assisting 21,851 people. The Guard saved $974 million of property. It serviced 50,000 aids to navigation. All in all, it patrolled 95,000 miles of coastline.

The Coast Guard has four major operational domains.

There’s the U.S. mainland, from inland navigable waterways (those located between states, such as Lake Tahoe and Lake Champlain) and the Great Lakes, along the U.S. border and its approaches, throughout the Caribbean and Western Hemisphere, including two U.S. territories (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) in the Caribbean.

A second major domain is in Alaska and its approaches, including the Arctic, as well as the International Ice Patrol.

A third domain is Hawaii and three U.S. territories (Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa) across the Pacific.

Finally there is the cyberspace domain.

Toss in port security, maritime environmental protection and marine safety, and there’s plenty for Coasties to do.

The Coast Guard is a small service compared to the U.S. Navy. The Navy has between 335,000 to 350,000 officers and sailors; the CG has 42,000 to 44,000. However, the U.S. Coast Guard may be the largest coast guard in the world, although China is coming up fast. And if it were a navy, it would be the 12th largest.