St Augustine, Fla. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine today dedicated its new National Marine Training Center at St. Augustine, Fla. CBP deploys the world's largest law enforcement air and marine force to enhance homeland security and enforce immigration and customs laws.
The National Marine Training Center will deliver advanced marine law enforcement training to the agency's 350 marine interdiction agents and 260 U.S. Border Patrol agents-marine via 30 unique maritime courses.
"This modern facility will assist CBP Office of Air and Marine prepare to meet current and future challenges," said CBP Assistant Commissioner Michael Kostelnik. "The center provides state-of-the-art tools to train marine agents better, faster and with fewer distractions so that they can continue to disrupt illegal activities at our coastal regions and border waterways."
In December 2010, an existing facility in St. Augustine was leased to house an interim training center after the location was selected as most suitable for a permanent training location. Build-out of the facility began in March to provide administrative spaces for training staff of 15 agents and two classrooms.
CBP Office of Air and Marine deploys more than 350 marine interdiction agents and more than 300 watercraft to patrol the coastal waters of the U.S. This includes northern and southern U.S. borders, the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean off Southern California and Mexico.
CBP air and marine assets provide unique support to assist other federal agencies during law enforcement and special operations and provides search and rescue support during times of national emergencies.