Coast Guard needs a new boot camp. Does Port Royal landmark fit the bill?
Beaufort County leaders are pitching a bold idea: Transitioning the Naval Hospital Beaufort, the sprawling complex on the shores of the Beaufort River, into a training center for U.S. Coast Guard recruits.
In November, the Coast Guard announced it was seeking a second boot camp to train some of the 15,000 additional personnel expected to join the military branch over the next few years. The Coast Guard issued a solicitation for potential locations for the new facility, with a deadline set for Dec. 7.
Why not the Naval Hospital? That’s what The Beaufort County Economic Development Corp (BCEDC), Beaufort Area Chamber of Commerce and the Beaufort Defense Community Partnership Task Force are asking the federal government.
A 24-page proposal the groups submitted earlier this month to the Coast Guard said the hospital has a strategic location near the ocean in a community that supports the military. The facilities at the 76-year-old hospital, they said, are underutilized and could easily be modified to meet the Coast Guard’s recruitment training needs.
The proposal includes letters of support from several elected officials ranging from Gov. Henry McMaster to Port Royal Mayor Kevin Phillips.
“Beaufort knows how to treat the military,” McMaster wrote. “It is the ultimate military community with the support structure in place not only to bring your new base online, but also to provide schools, housing and medical care for families.”
What are the chances?
Although there’s been no announcement the 127-acre hospital is closing, local officials point out in materials submitted to the Coast Guard that the Defense Health Agency is shifting its medical services to new clinics planned at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs also is planning to move VA services at the hospital to a $30 million VA clinic that will be constructed in Beaufort or Port Royal, documents said. An announcement on the location of the new VA clinic expected in early in 2026.
John O’Toole, the BCEDC executive director, said the Naval Hospital is well-suited for the Coast Guard training center because it is a large facility that is underutilized. It is already owned by the federal government, he adds, so using it would save money.
The hospital also is located in a community that’s military friendly, with the necessary infrastructure in place to support military families, he said.
Communities from across the country, including others from South Carolina, will be competing for the training center, O’Toole said.
“It’s hard for us to tell at this point what the potential is,” said O’Toole, when asked about the chances of the Naval Hospital being chosen. “Our position is we wanted to remind the federal government they have an asset here in Beaufort County that might fit the bill.”
Is the site a good fit?
When soliciting ideas for potential training center locations, the Coast Guard said it needed a facility with lodging for 1,200 recruits, a dining facility capable of seating 400, a medical facility that can support 1,000 personnel, 14 classrooms, an auditorium that can seat 500, a pool with six lands, a gymnasium and office space for 400.
A land area of 150 to 200 acres within 30 miles of a small commercial service or larger airport are also requirements.
In its submission, the Beaufort County groups noted the Naval Hospital offers direct access to the Intracoastal Waterway via the Beaufort River. The property has a 250,000 square-foot hospital in addition to offices, auditorium, a pool and housing.
The property, the groups said, could easily be adapted to meet the infrastructure requirements for recruit training and be operational within 12 months of acquisition or lease.
Naval Hospital Beaufort is located at 1 Pinckney Blvd. in Port Royal. Commissioned in 1949, the hospital, a stand-alone fenced medical campus that is not part of a larger military base, is one of only a handful of its kind in the nation.
It serves Marines at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort as well as thousands of local veterans. The facilities are visible from busy Ribaut Road. The Beaufort River flows behind the facilities.
Earlier this year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the Force Design 2028 project to revamp the Coast Guard to meet growing threats to the country. Part of the plans are increasing uniformed ranks by at least 15,000 members by the end of 2028.
The Coast Guard’s main training center for enlisted recruits is in Cape May, N.J. It has additional training facilities in Charleston, Yorktown, Virginia, Petaluma, California and Kodiak, Alaska.
