Auxiliarist "Jake" Lincoln QE instructs Small Boat launching/retrieving to new Coast Guard recruits.

From coast to coast, thousands of Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteers actively patrol our waterways and regularly assist recreational boaters in various boating safety programs. And many Division 8, D5-NR Auxiliarists also serve side-by-side with active duty members of the Coast Guard team at USCG Training Center (TRACEN) Cape May, NJ.

"The Coast Guard's future begins here, in Cape May, New Jersey."

TRACEN Cape May is the home of the Coast Guard enlisted corps, Coast Guard enlisted accession point and recruit training center. The finest young men and women in service to the United States of America pass through the facility each year.

The primary goal of the training staff is to graduate apprentices with the pride, commitment and basic skills to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard. Among the dedicated staff you will find local Auxiliary members.

Auxiliarist Mike Dineen prepares to test new recruits on the finer points of Small Boat launching/retrieving.

Seven years ago, prompted by then TRACEN’s Executive Officer, Captain Curtis Odom, Auxiliarists Mike Hause and George Smith walked into the Assistant Training Officer’s office and ask if they could help instruct the recruit classes, and thus brought the Auxiliary into TRACEN on a regular basis.

They elected to teach Small Boat Crew where recruits learn various practical aspects of line handling for docking and casting off. Although other Auxiliary members have participated in this course over the years, the Auxiliary has never missed a day in all that time. Captain Odom is now the Training Center’s Commanding Officer, and often has kind words of appreciation and encouragement to the Auxiliarists who augment the training staff.

Retired "Coastie" Ruth Keck was active in the Recruit Band during her training at boot camp. She now shares her appreciation of music as an Auxiliary volunteer working with the Training Center’s Recruit Band.

Auxiliarist John "Jake" Lincoln, the District 5-NR Historian and a Qualifying Examiner, has been an active member of the Auxiliary for 37 years. A Navy Veteran and Coast Guard Reservist, "Jake" volunteers at the Training Center's Seamanship School where he and fellow Auxiliarist Mike Dineen assists the recruits in the fine points of launching and retrieving a cutter's small boat.

Auxiliarist Bruce Long teaches recruits personal financial responsibility.

Walter Alsegg is among the ten Division Auxiliarists who regularly conduct tours of the Training Center to the general public, Veteran groups, and various civic organizations. Over 950 visitors tour the base every year, and Auxiliary members provide informational tours as well as recruitment information for those interested in a career in the Coast Guard.

Auxiliarists Lou Hahn and Mike Hause teach Seamanship Crew duties to future "Guardians of the Sea." These two Auxiliarists take pride in the fact that they help new recruits begin their training on becoming crewmembers onboard a Coast Guard surface vessel.

When guest speaker, Rear Admiral Sylvia Coogan, USCG, spoke at this year's National Training Conference (NTrain) in St. Louis, MO, she heralded the work of the Auxiliary and highlighted the effort of Auxiliarist Bruce Long whom she observed teaching Personal Finance for the recruits during a recent tour of TRACEN. Bruce, an Army Veteran and active Auxiliarist for 32 years has been teaching the weekly class for several years where recruits learn the basics about personal finances, savings, investments, and retirement planning.

For the past two years, Division 8 Vice-Captain Marilyn Hughes has been one of the graduation presenters at the weekly recruit graduation ceremony. A certified Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church, Marilyn sometimes fills in for the base's Protestant Chaplain in conducting the Sunday Services and can act as a Supply Pastor.

The Coast Guard Auxiliary is the world's best volunteer organization, and knowing that you belong to a special group of people that directly participate in the important work at the United States Coast Guard Training Center gives your Auxiliary membership a special meaning.