"I love training recruits," said Chief Petty Officer George Bou a recruit company commander at the training center. "The sense of responsibility I have is extraordinary."

Bou said his job is to teach the recruits to be self starters because there will be times when they have to act without direction. They must be able to function without a babysitter and trust their instincts, he said.

The recruits spend eight weeks learning military standards and procedures, basic seamanship, firefighting, first aid, water survival skills and basic knowledge on how to fire a gun. Recruits also take with them valuable lessons their company commander teaches them on a daily basis.

"The most important piece of advice my company commander taught me was to believe in myself - if you don't believe in yourself then you're not going to be able to do it at all," said Seaman Recruit John Abell with recruit company Golf-178.

Bou said it's awesome to see the actual light bulb go off above their heads. That's when he knows he actually taught them something.

"Boot camp was extremely tough at first, because our company was here and there - we didn't know what we were doing. Our company is in its sixth week and we're working together as a team, and everyday it's becoming easier. Our company commanders are giving us a lot more responsibility," said Abell.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Coast Guard Training Center Cape May receives an average of 4,500 new recruits each year .

"It surged since 9/11, and the surge won't go away because the Coast Guard's workforce grew by 6,000 people since that time," said Capt. Sandra Stosz, commanding officer of the training center. "I think recruit training is one of the most important things we do in the Coast Guard, yet it's very easy to not notice it as such."

"For instance, Cape May is so geographically isolated, and since we are a recruit training center and don't have many other training programs for enlisted people - they never have a reason to come back to Cape May," said Stosz.  

Stosz said she has learned the value of recruit training and how incredibly important it is to the future of the Coast Guard.

Recruits learn water survival techniques.

 "The new apprentices we graduate are part of the enlisted workforce we send to a Coast Guard we will never see," said Stosz.  "It is so important we realize that all of us working at Cape May are graduating the apprentices who will run a Coast Guard long after you and I retire. The important fact we are selecting the future people who will run the future Coast Guard shouldn't be lost in any of us."

It's also incredibly important the instructors at the training center teach the young people to have the skills, qualities and the core values it takes to keep the Coast Guard moving forward when everyone from the current Coast Guard workforce are retired, she said.

With a changing world, the Coast Guard must also change how it trains its people. The recruit training curriculum has not been reviewed for restructuring for 10 years until recently.

"With the commandant transforming the Coast Guard, we are refining the recruit training curriculum," said Stosz. "We are improving it to give the classroom indoctrination more hands-on and physical fitness opportunities for the recruits. This will help us graduate them with more of the commitment to the culture of the core values and the guardian ethos were looking to instill in them."

Stosz says she hopes by next year this new program will be in place so the training center can begin to provide an enhanced and better graduate for transforming the Coast Guard.

Though the current curriculum is in the process of transforming, the men and women who are being trained are having life long transformations everyday.

Recruits graduate boot camp.

With the graduation of recruits every Friday, a new week is almost ready to begin. Soon another busload of civilians will make their way through the gates of Training Center Cape May, and the bus will come to a squeaky rest in front of a place called Sexton Hall. Faces pushed against windows see shadowed figures standing powerfully under the glow of a street lamp. Within seconds, the bus door slams open. All eyes in the bus change direction to the front. Up from the bus' steps walks one of the figures. All is quiet. "From now on, everything that comes out of your mouth will be ‘sir yes sir' or ‘ma'am yes ma'am!'"

The first week for a new set of recruits has just begun.

To view and download high-resolution versions of the photos below, click on the thumbnail

	CAPE MAY, N.J. - Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Todd Warga inspects a group of newly arrived recruits Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. New recruits arrive by bus to begin their Coast Guard basic training every Tuesday night. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer George Bou, a company commander, disciplines Seaman Recruit George Landrum III of recruit company Golf-178 Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. Recruits are sometimes the subjects of discipline dispensed by their company commanders in order to conform to military standards. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - A company of Coast Guard recruits do crunches on the pavement at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. The recruits often experience military discipline in the form of a physical workout through out their eight weeks of training from their company commanders. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - A company of Coast Guard recruits do crunches on the pavement at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. The recruits often experience military discipline in the form of a physical workout through out their eight weeks of training from their company commanders. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - Coast Guard recruits learn how to extinguish a ship-board fire at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. Recruits practiced the procedure before donning fire protection gear and entering a completely dark and fog filled room, which was there final test to complete basic fire fighting training. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - Coast Guard recruits wearing full fire protection gear form up in a dark and fog-filled room to fight a simulated fire, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. The fire simulation was the final test for recruits to complete recruit fire fighting training. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - Coast Guard recruits jump into the Coast Guard Training Center Cape May gym pool in groups of four Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. The recruits learn basic water survival techniques during their eight weeks of training. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE, MAY, N.J. - Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Daniel Wooters, a firearms instructor, teaches a recruit how to properly line up her gun sights on a target, Monday, Sept. 10, 2007, at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. Coast Guard recruits learn how to maintain and fire a .40-caliber handgun during their eight weeks of basic training. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - Coast Guard recruit Mason McCormick practices tying a knot during seamanship class Thursday, Sept. 14, 2007, at Coast Guard Recruit Training Center Cape May. Passing basic seamanship class is a requirement for each recruit to graduate basic training. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - Two companies of Coast Guard recruits receive first aid training at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007. The recruits have to learn and pass basic first aid before they can graduate boot camp. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - Two companies of Coast Guard recruits begin the first of six laps around a race track at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007. The mile and a half run is part of the recruits physical fitness assessment which must be completed in order to graduate. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher D. McLaughlin
	CAPE MAY, N.J. - A company of Coast Guard recruits graduates boot camp, Friday, Sept. 15, 2007, near the parade field of Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. Recruits graduate Coast Guard basic training every Friday. Coast Guard photograph by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher D. McLaughlin