Beaufort County loses out to Alabama in contest for new Coast Guard training center

PORT ROYAL — Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced that Birmingham, Alabama had been chosen as the site for a new Coast Guard training facility, ending Beaufort County’s hopes for earning that distinction.

Birmingham’s selection may have been a foregone conclusion, asserted John O’Toole, executive director of the Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation, noting that Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., serves as chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.

“It wasn’t much of a secret in Washington, D.C., that Alabama had the inside track from the beginning,” said O’Toole, who led the county’s effort to secure selection as the site for the new operation.

The process kicked off in November when the Coast Guard issued a request for information seeking potential locations for the training center. Potential sites were asked to meet a set of requirements that included lodging for 1,200 recruits, a medical facility to support 1,000 personnel, a land area of 150 to 250 acres and 14 classrooms capable of accommodating up to 60 students.

“We were told from the start by our contacts in D.C. that (the request for information) was wired for Alabama. We wanted to make the decision difficult. We wanted to make them pause and at least look at Beaufort,” said O’Toole.

Beaufort County responded to the request, focusing its proposal on 127-acre grounds of Naval Hospital Beaufort, an active but aging facility that started serving Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort personnel in 1949.

“We don’t ever want to get in the way of the military’s mission there, but it’s very obvious if you’ve ever been on the campus of the Naval Hospital that it’s an underutilized facility,” O’Toole said.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-Lexington, sent a letter to then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in January endorsing Beaufort County’s submission. Scott and Wilson emphasized Beaufort’s location between the strategically important ports of Charleston and Savannah.

“Situated between these two critical hubs, Beaufort is uniquely positioned and prepared to leverage the existing infrastructure and regional connectivity to support the Coast Guard’s mission,” their letter read in part.

In February, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans to build a new, $30 million clinic in Port Royal, replacing a smaller VA clinic located within Naval Hospital Beaufort. The new clinic will serve the region’s 22,000 veterans and further reduce the hospital’s mission. Military personnel from the nearby bases in need of medical treatment will continue to be served by the hospital.

On March 4, DHS announced that the campus of Birmingham-Southern College as the site for the Coast Guard’s new training facility. O’Toole was not surprised by the choice, though Port Royal Town Manager Van Willis thought the selection curious.

“We certainly thought the Naval Hospital was an ideal fit for the potential training facility. Locating a Coast Guard facility five hours from the coast seems less than ideal,” offered Willis.

In a press release, DHS officials said that Birmingham-Southern best satisfied Coast Guard training mission requirements. With only a nominal need for new construction, the existing facilities are expected to support the start of training within the year.

Britt said, “I am deeply proud to have advocated directly to Secretary Noem for a new training center in Birmingham to support our outstanding Coast Guard personnel, especially as the USCG continues to recruit servicemembers to combat 21st-century threats.”

President Donald Trump fired Noem the day after the announcement of the new siting and named Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., as her replacement. Noem will remain in the role until the end of March.

Despite losing the bid for the Coast Guard training center, O’Toole said the experience raised awareness within the Department of Defense of the Naval Hospital site and its future potential.

“We are confident that this had gotten an underdiscussed issue out in the daylight,” he said.