Alabama’s U.S. Sen. Katie Britt speaks at the ribbon-cutting for a new Coast Guard training school at what formerly was the Birmingham-Southern College campus. (Photo/Britt office)
COMMENTARY
By Troy Turner
BIRMINGHAM – Kudos to U.S. Sen. Katie Britt for serving her home state of Alabama with leadership and influence that helped make a deal happen to save one of the state’s oldest college campuses and meet the needs of a Coast Guard training center.
The political world is one filled every day with politicians finding a parade and jumping in front of it. Britt, however, seemed to immediately understand how to convert an apples-and-oranges challenge into one that became low-hanging fruit good for everyone.
The United States Coast Guard and the brave men and women who serve it are of a water world, one associated with coast lines, waterways and the open sea.
So, at first thought, it might seem odd that someone would suggest taking an abandoned college campus way up in Birmingham, Alabama, roughly four hours from the nearest coastal port, to become a training center for the Coast Guard.
Not to Britt.
“As chair of the Subcommittee for Homeland Security Appropriations, I’m proud to have helped play a role in this, and I am proud to have helped connect the dots,” Britt said in a press statement.
So, just what were some of the dots to be connected?
A BIT OF BACKGROUND
AlaDefense.com reported in March that the U.S. Coast Guard will be establishing its new land-based training center on the campus of the former Birmingham-Southern College, bringing to Alabama yet another major military/homeland security presence as the state continues its rapid growth in contributing to national security.
Britt led several public officials in making the initial announcement, joined by Rep. Robert Aderholt, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, and Homeland leadership.
Homeland Security, and not the War Department, oversees the Coast Guard, although there are many aspects the two departments share, such as protecting the American mainland and U.S. interests at sea.
Alabama already is home to Coast Guard Sector Mobile and the Coast Guard’s Aviation Training Center, also in Mobile.
However, the Coast Guard announced in late 2025 that it was looking nationwide for prospective sites to establish a new training center to help meet the training needs of a rapidly growing recruiting base, as it looks to add as many as 15,000 personnel.
Among the specifications being sought: lodging for 1,200 recruits, a dining facility capable of seating 400 personnel, a medical facility to support 1,000 personnel, 14 classrooms sized to accommodate 30-60 students, an auditorium with a capacity of 500-plus students, a pool and gym that can meet training needs, office space for 400 staff members, a land area of 150-250 acres, and proximity to a suitable airport within 30 miles.
The Birmingham-Southern campus, which served that school from 1918 until it closed in May 2024, met all of those needs.
BIG SHIPS ON LITTLE RIVERS?
Britt, aided with a good dose of situational awareness and by proponents desperate to see something good come of the beautiful and historic campus, immediately used her role in support of Homeland Security to connect those aforementioned dots.
Seeing big Coast Guard cutters sailing on the Cahaba River wasn’t what this was about, she acknowledged.
“As part of the service’s historic transformation and renewal, the Coast Guard will see a more than 30 percent increase in its military workforce. While basic training will continue in Cape May, New Jersey, the Coast Guard needs more classrooms, residence halls, gyms, kitchens, and health facilities,” Britt explained in a recent op-ed column. “Following a national search, BSC exceeded every metric, and I was proud to spend months advocating for their selection.”
Classes will begin by the end of 2026, and the Coast Guard expects to be fully operational by the middle of 2027. The campus can host 1,200 students at a time, and courses will range from five weeks to multi-month training sessions.
“This means thousands of members of the Coast Guard will travel through Birmingham annually in addition to friends and family who visit to celebrate graduations,” Britt said.
The well-kept Birmingham-Southern campus and its diverse facilities seems to fit like a glove.
And while it’s possible another private college or some such entity could have taken over, the idea of serving the nation by hosting the Coast Guard adds an entirely new dimension to Alabama’s ever-growing defense and security role in protecting the entire nation.
ALABAMA’S MILITARY ROLE: MORE THAN JETS, TANKS AND SHIPS
The Alabama Air National Guard flies modern F-35 stealth fighter jets, and the Army Guard hosts a Special Forces group. These personnel aren’t rookies.
The United States Army has numerous commands in the state that includes the Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville.
Shipbuilders and service providers welcome some of the Navy’s top vessels to port in Mobile, and the Anniston Army Depot is known for its work with armored vehicles.
Uniform-makers in Selma and Talladega provide apparel needs to all branches of service, and mat-makers in Enterprise provide landing mats to the Marines.
So yes, Alabama already plays a significant role in serving our military, one that can be seen with jets, tanks, ships and plenty of other combat-ready visual confirmation.
However, many Alabamians may be unaware of the military’s critical educational roots in the state.
(Photo/Air Force, Maxwell AFB)
Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery is home to the internationally famed Air War College.
Fort Rucker near Enterprise is home to Army Aviation, with a storied history of helicopter training, research and development.
(Photo/Army, Fort Rucker)
Alabama’s major universities are linked to defense and homeland security contracts that provide research-sharing with frontline defense in fields such as cybersecurity, critical infrastructure security, and space technology.
(Photo by U.S. Army/DEVCOM)
Thus, Birmingham becoming home to the United States Coast Guard Enlisted Training Center of Excellence adds yet another significant line item on Alabama’s growing duty roster.
Including: schools and training centers that send the nation’s top warfighters and defenders around the globe, and often into harm’s way.
What happens here in Alabama… matters.
Well done.
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be contacted at [email protected]. His bio can be found here.
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