2007 – Arctic Awareness – The Coast Guard Prepares Satellite measurements of Arctic sea ice extent reveal a rapid decline over the past 30 years, particularly at the end of each year’s annual melt season. As the Arctic warms, the volume of ice in the region gradually declines; making it less likely ice will survive more than one year […]

2007 – Coast Guard Acquires HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft The Coast Guard selected the HC-144A “Ocean Sentry” to serve as its new medium range multi-purpose surveillance aircraft.  In early 2007 the first three were delivered to the Coast Guard Aviation Repair & Supply Center (AR&SC) at Elizabeth City, North Carolina to undergo installation and testing […]

2006 – Coast Guard Assumes National Capital Rotary Wing Air Intercept Mission Coast Guard Auxiliary aircraft intercepted by HH-65C during Rotary Wing Air Intercept training exercise The U.S. Coast Guard officially assumed responsibility for rotary wing air intercept operations in the nation’s Capitol Air Defense Zone from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency on […]

2005 – Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina, one of the largest natural disasters in our nation’s history, was chosen for inclusion in the Coast Guard Aviation History Timeline because it illustrates both the capabilities of the United States Coast Guard and its operational principles that promote leadership, accountability, and delegation of authority to qualified personnel at the […]

2005 – Coast Guard Acquires the C-143A Medium Range Command and Control Aircraft C-143A The C-143A is a Challenger CL-604 aircraft, which was acquired by the Coast Guard in December 2005 as its new Medium Range Command and Control Aircraft (MRC2A). It provides support exclusively for the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and […]

2003 – Airborne Use of Force – Coast Guard Arms HH-65C and HH-60J   Helicopters In 1998 the U.S. Coast Guard established a unit known as HITRON-10 to test and evaluate airborne use of force (AUF) as a means of interdicting and stopping the high speed smuggling boats known as ‘go-fasts.” Tactics were developed using […]

2003 – Coast Guard Units Deploy During the Iraq War n late 2002, at the request of the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard began preparations for mission specific duties in support of military operations in and around Iraq. The Coast Guard sent two 378 foot WHEC cutters with aviation detachments, a sea-going buoy tender, […]

2003 – Coast Guard Transferred to the Department of   Homeland Security The President of the United States signed into law the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the Department of Homeland Security. Under this legislation, the U.S. Coast Guard was transferred from the Department of Transportation to the new Department on March 1 […]

2002 – The Coast Guard Aviation Transformation Plan In August of 2002, during the ceremony making the contract award for the Integrated Deepwater System, (IDS), Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thomas H. Collins described the critical need to upgrade and modernize the service’s force of cutters, aerial platforms, and support systems. He stressed that the Coast […]

2002 – Coast Guard Acquires the C-37A Long Range Command and Control Aircraft The C-37A, a Gulfstream V, was acquired in the second quarter of 2002 to serve as long range command-and-control aircraft that can be used to provide transportation for high-level Coast Guard and government officials. The C-37 is fully capable of long range […]