The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

Training Center (TRACEN) in

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a town in York County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while ...

, is one of eight major Coast Guard training facilities in the United States. The others are

Training Center Petaluma Training Center Petaluma is a United States Coast Guard, Coast Guard training facility in the northern California counties of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma and Marin County, California, Marin. Formerly the installation was the United States ...

, Training Center Cape May, Aviation Training Center, located in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, Leadership Development Center, located in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...

Maritime Law Enforcement Academy The Maritime Law Enforcement Academy (MLEA) is a United States Coast Guard school located at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Charleston, South Carolina. It was created from the reloc ...

, located in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, Special Missions Training Center,

Camp LeJeune, North Carolina Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune ( or ) is a United States Armed Forces, United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for Amphibious warfare, amphibious assault training, an ...

, and the Aviation Technical Training Center, located in

Elizabeth City, North Carolina Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, Pasquotank county, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and most populous city of Pasqu ...

. TRACEN Cape May is the only U.S. Coast Guard Base used for

Basic Military Training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique dema ...

or "boot camp". TRACEN Yorktown, TRACEN Petaluma, Maritime Law Enforcement Academy, and the Aviation Technical Training Center are locations for Coast Guard's apprentice level "A" and advanced level "C" Schools.

TRACEN Yorktown history

In 1917, The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

purchased of the Yorktown peninsula to serve as a fuel depot. In 1942 the U.S. Navy housed their Mine Warfare Training School on the land. The U.S. Coast Guard took possession of the school in 1957 and established the Reserve Training Center or RTC. The purpose of the RTC was to become the home of Coast Guard

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. H ...

RTC was moved to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT in 1998. RTC was formerly a large summer training program for reservists. In 1998 the command was renamed Training Center Yorktown.

Training

Training at TRACEN Yorktown is extensive. The training is designed to instill a profound understanding of technical and leadership skills in order to perform duties in a leadership role as a

Petty Officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies. Often they may be superior to a seaman, and subordinate to more senior non-commissioned officers, such as chief petty officers. Petty officers are usually sailors that have ...

. The duration of "A" School training is typically 10 to 19 weeks depending on the course. Permanently assigned personnel include active duty, reserve, and civilian instructional, curriculum design and support staff. Students include Coast Guard active duty, reservists, and auxiliarists. Additionally, TRACEN Yorktown provides training to other U.S. military services and agencies, and foreign military and coast guard personnel.

"A" Schools

"A" School is an entry-level training course in a particular

rating A rating is an evaluation or assessment of something, in terms of a metric (e.g. quality, quantity, a combination of both,...). Rating or rating system may also refer to: Business and economics * Credit rating, estimating the credit worthiness ...

. The U.S. Coast Guard offers seven "A" school courses at TRACEN Yorktown. * Intelligence Specialist *

Gunner's mate The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard occupational rating of gunner's mate (GM) is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) to enlisted sailors who either satisfactorily complete initial Gunner's Mate "A" sch ...

* Electrician's mate * Boatswain's Mate * Marine Science Technician * Machinery Technician * Damage controlman

International training

The U.S. Coast Guard offers opportunities for foreign Coast Guard members to experience U.S. military training. This training enhances military skills and advances technical understanding. The international training course is 15 weeks long.

Base services

The Coast Guard is unique in that all other military branches have large bases with many services. The Coast Guard has many small stations that do not have those services. However, there are a few bases that the Coast Guard operate with all the services that other branches have on their bases. TRACEN Yorktown is one of those bases. The Training Center has a number of services: * Auto Hobby Shop * Barber Shop *

Chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

Clinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

Credit Union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

* Cyber Cafe *

Dry Cleaner Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a solvent other than water. Clothes are instead soaked in a water-free liquid solvent (usually non-polar, as opposed to water which is a polar solvent). Perchloroethylene (kn ...

* Coast Guard Exchange * Dining Facility *

Gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

* Subway * Movie theater * All hands club

Reporting

All students reporting to TRACEN Yorktown will receive instruction on base policies during indoctrination and must follow the instructions provided on their official orders. "C" School students will report to Lafayette or Cain Hall, depending on their paygrade, for room assignments.

External links

References

{{reflist United States Coast Guard schools and training Military installations in Virginia York County, Virginia Buildings and structures in York County, Virginia Education in York County, Virginia Educational institutions established in 1957 1957 establishments in Virginia