Charleston, South Carolina, serves as the home to Maritime Law Enforcement and Port Security Training. The Charleston harbor area includes the fourth busiest international container shipping port in the United States with one passenger and four container port terminals; as well as numerous privately owned terminals handling various types of cargo including bulk, break bulk, roll-on-roll-off and petroleum. The waterways in the immediate area include shipping channels, rivers, bays, creeks, streams, the Intra-Coastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. These waterways provide a realistic training environment for Maritime Law Enforcement and Port Security students.

Principle waterways in the Charleston area include the Cooper, Ashley, Wando, Stono, and Edisto rivers, as well as numerous isolated and remote tributaries.  Students may be exposed to every type of training scenario including port terminal security, maritime law enforcement onboard small and large vessels and in a range of waterways.

FLETC Charleston facilities include a variety of specialized platforms for Maritime Law enforcement and Port Security training. The facility inventory includes four deep water piers for large commercial or military vessels and three sets of floating docks for smaller vessels.  Charleston's unique training platforms include a compound comprised of eleven boat boarding platforms consisting of various types of vessels up to 58' in length, with five adjacent classrooms and two tactical shipboard simulators; the SS Cape Chalmers, a 494' Break-Bulk freighter, a 65' crew boat, and 41' service vessel, as well as several small operation vessels. The Charleston facility has a boat launch ramp, vessel maintenance facility and covered boat storage facility.