SPARS officer candidates was transferred to the USCG Academy at New London, Connecticut. It was the only U.S. military service that trained women officer candidates at its own academy. Initially, the training period was for six weeks; later it was changed to eight weeks. General in scope, the program was designed to give cadets an overall view of the USCG. Academic study included: administration, correspondence, communications, history, organization, personnel, public speaking, ships, and special lectures and visual aids. The regimental part of the training was designed to help cadets adjust to military life, and to acquaint them with their responsibilities as officers. The cadets ranged in age from 20 to 40, with diverse civilian backgrounds from teachers and journalists to lawyers and technicians. During the two-year life of the officer indoctrination program, about 930 women completed the training and were commissioned as SPARS officers. In late 1944, the USCG determined that this complement was sufficient for its needs and discontinued the program. However, to replace the officers who had gone overseas, and those separated from the SPARS, the officer candidate school was later reopened for one last class. The candidates were all former enlisted personnel, who received their indoctrination at the USCG training station, Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York. The USCG strived to recruit officer candidates who already had some civilian training or work experience of the type that could be used without further training. As result, only about one third of the officers received any specialized training. However, the specialized training programs produced 203 communications officers, and 106 pay and supply officers, prior to its discontinuance in November and December 1944. Enlisted training At first, the SPARS enlisted personnel received their indoctrination training on college campuses operated for such by the U.S. Navy. A few SPARS received their recruit training at Oklahoma A&M University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, another 150 of them received their training at Iowa State Teachers College, Cedar Falls, Iowa, and about 1,900 SPARS received their recruit training at Hunter College in the Bronx, New York. In March 1943, the USCG decided that there was a need to establish its own training center for the indoctrination of recruits and to provide specialized training programs. The site selected was the Palm Beach Biltmore Hotel, Palm Beach, Florida; it was leased, and then commissioned as a training station, on 23 May 1943. Beginning in late June, all enlisted personnel received