— Graduation guides · Coast Guard
Every enlisted Coast Guardsman starts at Training Center Cape May, New Jersey. Graduation is a Friday morning with a four guest cap, and your recruit leaves the same day. Checked against official sources in September 2026.
— Questions families ask
Four guests per recruit, no exceptions and no trading slots between recruits. Your recruit sends the invitations in the last few weeks and confirms guests during graduation week. There is no online pre-registration. You are processed through security at the main gate, which opens to graduation guests at 8:15 a.m., and then have escorted access to the graduation areas only. Do not try to enter before 8:15. Source
Everyone 18 and older shows a valid photo ID from a state or federal agency: state ID, driver's license, passport, Veteran ID or immigration credentials. Unescorted access needs a REAL ID since May 2025, but graduation guests are escorted once processed, so a valid state ID still gets you in. Have it out and ready at the gate; guards send cars to the back of the line if you are fumbling. Drivers need an unexpired license, registration and proof of insurance. Minors 16 and under must be with an adult. All vehicles are searched. Source
Normally Fridays at 11 a.m., about an hour. The gate opens at 8:15. An optional family breakfast at the Harborview runs 8:30 to 9:45 for $10 a person, and a Thursday evening family dinner is offered with two seatings, but recruits are not at either; your first sight of them is the ceremony. From about October to early May graduation is indoors in the Flores Gymnasium, with the company march at 10:05 and a video at 10:25. From early May to October it is outdoors on the Parade Field, guests seated by 10:25 and the company fly-by at 10:53; bad weather moves it indoors at the same times. Recruits are free to depart right after. Source
Leave bags, purses and suitcases of any type in your car; do not carry them to the ceremony. Firearms, marijuana and other drugs are prohibited and vehicles are searched. Pets are not allowed. Photographing your graduate is encouraged; photographing recruits in earlier weeks is prohibited. Speed limit is 20 on base, 25 through the housing streets on the way to the gate, and drivers stop for morning colors at 8 a.m. Source
Cape May is a resort town at the southern tip of New Jersey, so summer graduations compete with beach season and rooms go early. The base guest quarters and campground are only for eligible MWR patrons or guests sponsored and escorted by base personnel, so most families stay in town. Book as soon as your recruit's date is confirmed, and check the drive to the main gate before you book. Source
Recruits get a brief arrival call and then write letters; the first letter carries the company and mailing address. The training center's official Facebook page, U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, and its website are the only official information sources, and the base does not release a recruit's status to families. For a true family emergency, the American Red Cross Hero Care line at 877-272-7337 delivers the message through the recruit's company commander. Source
For indoor-season graduations the training center makes every effort to stream on Facebook Live at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May. It is a courtesy and can be cancelled, and outdoor ceremonies are not promised a stream. It is free. Source
Request your Official Military Personnel File free from the National Personnel Records Center at vetrecs.archives.gov or by mailing Standard Form 180. Coast Guard records list your recruit company by letter and number. With that, company photo archives on the Coast Guard Historian's site and veteran groups on Facebook named by company, such as Alpha-123, are how most shipmates find each other. Source
The arrival call only confirms they made it. The first letter home carries the recruit company, such as Alpha-123, and the full mailing address, and it usually arrives in the second week. After that everything is by letter. The training center does not release a recruit's status, so the letters are your source. Source
When the training center streams an indoor-season graduation on Facebook Live at U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, the video stays on that page afterward. Outdoor ceremonies are not promised a stream, so a family member's phone video may be the only recording; ask in your recruit's company group. Source
Sandboxx is a paid third-party app that prints your letter and mails it to the base; it is optional, and stamped mail to the address in the first letter works the same. Wait for the letter with the company name before you send anything, and stick to letters and photos. Source
— By post
Every graduation photo becomes a numbered keepsake card, front and back, with the unit, the base and the date. You get a video and one page the whole family can open. Graduated a while ago? It is not too late.