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 their indoctrination and specialized training at this station.