Coming of Age

They Were Designed With a Helicopter Landing Platform but No Hangar A long range plan, suggested by the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, to address the obsolescence of the cutter fleet was undertaken in 1959. The first cutters built under this plan were thirty six 95 foot patrol boats followed by seventy nine 82 foot … Read more

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 in nearby Warrenton during periods of inclement weather. On … Read more

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 in a 24,000 square foot hangar built in 1942. An alternative site at Scholes Field, Galveston Texas, was considered … Read more

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 as office and shop space until a permanent building was completed. In addition … Read more

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 and members of his staff, the Commandant, U.S. … Read more

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 then returning to base with a fuel reserve equal to 10% of the initial fuel … Read more

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 officers, and twenty enlisted personnel. In May 1963, … Read more

The Manual Was for the HU-16 Albatross The post World War II fiscal retrenchment and the frugality of the Coast Guard resulted in an assortment of previously used aircraft obtained from other services. The operating procedures varied with the aircraft and the Air Station and few of them were in agreement. The accident rate was … Read more

In October 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war over the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and although not known at the time, Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield … Read more

The Aviation planning process utilized the 1960 Re-Evaluation of the Requirements of Coast Guard Aviation and the Roles and Mission Study of 1961 as the initial basis of the expanded role of Coast Guard aviation over the decades to come. Coast Guard Aviation had evolved into a premier tactical search and rescue organization but like … Read more