Coast Guard Graduates First Class at New Birmingham-Southern Training Center

Inaugural 29-member leadership class marks major milestone as Coast Guard shifts FORCECOM and enlisted leadership training to former Alabama college campus

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | The U.S. Coast Guard has graduated its first class at Training Center Birmingham-Southern, marking a major milestone in the service’s transformation of the former Birmingham-Southern College campus into a national hub for leadership development and force readiness.

Twenty-nine students completed the Coast Guard’s Leadership and Management School, or LAMS, becoming the first service members to graduate from the newly established Alabama training center.

Rear Adm. Matthew Brown, commander of Coast Guard Force Readiness Command, presided over the ceremony.

The graduation comes just months after the former college officially transitioned into TRACEN Birmingham-Southern on June 5, 2026, beginning a new chapter for the historic campus and significantly expanding the Coast Guard’s training footprint.

The service plans to make Birmingham-Southern the new home of Force Readiness Command, or FORCECOM, currently relocating from Norfolk, Virginia, and the Leadership Development Center, moving from New London, Connecticut.

More than 30 permanent Coast Guard personnel have already transitioned to Birmingham, including Brown.

Vance Pledges Help for Airman’s Widow as Benefits Dispute Exposes Confusion for Combat Families

Air Force says, Maj. John “Alex” Klinner’s family has received all eligible combat-related benefits after his widow’s viral account prompted a Pentagon review and White House attention

BIRMINGHAM, AL | Vice President JD Vance has pledged to help the family of an Air Force officer killed during U.S. combat operations against Iran after the airman’s widow publicly described difficulties determining whether her family qualified for certain combat-related military benefits.

But the case has since taken an important turn: The Air Force says a review confirmed that the family of Maj. John “Alex” Klinner received all combat-theater benefits for which he was eligible, while his widow has clarified that her family’s military benefits were not broadly denied or withheld.

The episode nevertheless highlights a complicated issue facing military families after a combat death: navigating the distinctions among casualty benefits, special military pays, combat-zone tax treatment and administrative classifications while grieving the loss of a service member.

Klinner, 33, was one of six airmen killed March 12 when a KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq while supporting U.S. operations against Iran. He served with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron in Birmingham, Alabama, and was the squadron’s chief of Standardizations and Evaluations.

Marine Corps Plans 6,500-Billet Expansion to Reinforce Infantry, Drone Warfare and Pacific Forces

Five-year force expansion will add Marines to 19 infantry battalions, autonomous systems units, counter-UAS defenses, and new specialties as the Corps prepares for a more dispersed, technology-driven fight

PARRIS ISLAND, SC | The Marine Corps is preparing to add more than 6,500 billets over the next five years, expanding infantry formations, drone and counter-drone capabilities, precision fires and specialized technical career fields as the service reshapes itself for future conflicts.

The expansion represents a significant manpower component of the Corps’ continuing modernization effort, pairing additional personnel with investments in autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, robotics, sensors and long-range fires.

Under the plan, the new billets will be distributed across 64 initiatives, including reinforcing forces oriented toward the Pacific, establishing additional unmanned aircraft training capacity and creating new military occupational specialties.

The Corps is targeting roughly a 4% increase in end strength by 2031, followed by an additional 1% increase by 2032.

The changes suggest Marine leaders see manpower — particularly Marines with specialized technical and combat skills — as essential to translating years of modernization investments into battlefield capability.