Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak

Air Station Kodiak

Unit Patch CGAS Kodiak
Active 1947-present
Country  United States
Branch  United States Coast Guard
Type Air Station
Role Search and rescue, maritime patrol, logistics
Aircraft flown
Helicopter HH-60J Jayhawk, HH-65 Dolphin
Patrol HC-130 Hercules

Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is an Air Station of the United States Coast Guard located in Kodiak, Alaska. It is one of the largest units in the Coast Guard, and the largest in the service's Pacific Area, with a crew of 65 officers and 317 enlisted personnel.[1] It is a tenant command of Base Support Unit Kodiak, and shares its airfield with Kodiak Airport. The station operates HH-60 Jayhawk and HH-65 Dolphin helicopters, and the HC-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft.[2]

History

Naval Air Station Kodiak in 1949.
Air Station Kodiak Island today

The United States Navy started construction of a naval air station at Kodiak in September 1939, and the station was commissioned on 15 June 1941. Home to PBY patrol squadrons early in World War II, Kodiak supported the Aleutian Islands Campaign of 1943, also operating scouting and air transport squadrons. In October 1950, NAS Kodiak was redesignated as Naval Station Kodiak, and in 1972 the site was turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard.[3]

Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak was originally commissioned as an Air Detachment in April 1947, with seven pilots and 30 enlisted men operating a single PBY Catalina. This was the Coast Guard's first aircraft permanently stationed in Alaska.

Operations

The station's primary mission is aerial search and rescue in a 4,000,000-square-mile (10,000,000 km2) area of responsibility covering the Gulf of Alaska, Bristol Bay, the Bering Sea, and Alaska's Pacific coast. It is also responsible for patrolling offshore fisheries, deploying HH-65 helicopters aboard High Endurance Cutters operating off Alaska, and providing logistical support to various Coast Guard units in the area.[4] The latter mission includes transporting aids to navigation personnel who maintain remote shore beacons that are only accessible by air.

Popular Culture

CGAS Kodiak is one of the main locations of the 2006 action-adventure drama film The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, and Melissa Sagemiller. The setting for the film is the United States Coast Guard and their Aviation Survival Technician (AST) program.

References

  1. ↑ "Air Station Kodiak". Global Security.org. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  2. ↑ "Air Station Kodiak". Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  3. ↑ National Museum of Naval Aviation
  4. ↑ "Missions". Retrieved 2 December 2010.

External links

Coordinates: 57°45′01″N 152°30′22″W / 57.7503°N 152.5060°W / 57.7503; -152.5060

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