1966 – The Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Established at Mobile Alabama The Basic Operational Training Unit (BOTU) formed at Coast Guard Air Station Savannah, Georgia, to provide standardized pilot/aircrew training for the HH-52, had been an unqualified success and Coast Guard Headquarters wished to extend the program to other aircraft.  Air station Savannah was […]

1966 – Air Station Detroit Michigan Established HH-65C “Dolphin” helicopter from Air Station Detroit over the Detroit River with the RenaissanceCenter and downtown Detroit in the background. Commissioned in June 1966, Coast Guard Air Station Detroit is located twenty miles north of Detroit on Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan. Air Station personnel first occupied […]

1965 – Air Station Miami Moves from Dinner Key to Opa-Locka Airport In November of 1965 the Coast Guard Air Station Miami relocated to the Opa-Locka airport located fourteen miles northwest of downtown Miami. The Air Station had been at Dinner Key since first established in June of 1932. The move was necessitated because of […]

1964 – The First of the 210 foot Coast Guard Cutters Were Launched They Were Designed With a Helicopter Landing Platform but No Hangar HH-52A on deck – note landing gear grid A long range plan, suggested by the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, to address the obsolescence of the cutter fleet was undertaken in […]

1964 – Coast Guard Air Station Astoria Oregon Established Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria was established on 14 August 1964 at Tongue Point Naval Station with a crew of 22 officers and 104 enlisted men. Two single engine Sikorsky HH-52A helicopters were operated from that location. The helicopters staged from the Port of Astoria Airport […]

1963 – Coast Guard Air Station Houston Established L/R AT1 Nielson, CAPT Shrode USCG, LT. Gen Stafford, CAPT Schirra Coast Guard Air Station Houston was commissioned 23 December 1963. Located on one acre at Ellington AFB, 17 miles SE of downtown Houston Texas. Two HH-52 helicopters, seven officer/pilots, and 18 enlisted mechanics/aircrewmen set up shop […]

1963 – Air Station Savannah Established HH-65 on the ramp- Air Station Savannah The Coast Guard Air Station Savannah was commissioned in August of 1963 on what was then known as Hunter Air Force Base. On a grassy open space at the north end of the base were two new house trailers that would serve […]

1963 – The VC-4A Executive Transport Was Purchased The Coast Guard acquired a special ordered G-159 Gulfstream 1 executive transport from Grumman Aircraft Corporation on 19 March 1963. Designated VC-4A it was based out of National Airport in Washington, D.C. and used to provide air transportation on a demand basis, to the Secretary of Treasury […]

1963 – The First of 99 HH-52A Helicopters Entered Coast Guard Service Making Basket Hoist The Coast Guard Aviation Plan of 1957 called for 79 medium range helicopters capable of proceeding offshore at a reasonable speed to a distance of 300 nautical miles, hovering for 20 minutes while picking up at least six survivors and […]

1962: Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles Established Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles is located at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The unit began as an aviation detachment in August 1962, with one HO4S helicopter from Air Station San Diego. Air Station Los Angeles was commissioned in November 1962 with two HO4S helicopters, nine […]