Present Era

1998: Operation Jester – Coast Guard Aviation in Peru Background: Cocaine is made from the leaves of the Coca plant. After the leaves are harvested and soaked, the base for the powdered drug is extracted and the resulting crystallized substance is dried into bricks. In 1980 Cocaine was not yet on the Drug Enforcement Agency … Read more

2015 Coast Guard Increases Airborne Reconnaissance Capabilities With The Minotaur System Architecture As early as 2013 the Coast Guard recognized that the legacy processors in its fixed wing aircraft assets would be unable to run the updated systems needed for optimal mission execution. After careful consideration, the Minotaur mission system architecture was chosen to upgrade … Read more

2018 – The Coast Guard Selects the ScanEagle UAS for NSC Cutters The U. S. Coast Guard awarded a potential $117.2 million contract to Boeing’s Insitu subsidiary to provide contractor owned and operated small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) aboard its fleet of National Security Cutters (NSC). Challenged with policing a vast six million square-mile maritime area … Read more

1996 – Drug Interdiction Surge Operations Re-established A decision was made by President Clinton in 1993 to adopt a source country policy designed to help producing countries build interdiction forces. The focus was on the drug crops, the kingpins and their organization, and the production and trafficking networks of Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. The adoption … Read more

2014 – Coast Guard Acquires C-27J Aircraft The Coast Guard acquired through an intra-service transfer, 14 C-27J Spartans that the U.S. Air Force planned to place in storage. The aircraft was manufactured by Leonardo’s Aircraft Division (formerly Alenia Aermacchi until 2016). The transfer was authorized in the fiscal year 2014 defense authorization bill. As part … Read more

2010 – The Deepwater Horizon Drilling Rig Explosion On April 20, 2010 an explosion and subsequent fire occurred on the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig. It caused the rig to burn and sink resulting in a massive oil spill. What was initially a rescue operation became what is now considered to be the largest environmental … Read more

2010 – The Haitian Earthquake A massive earthquake struck Haiti just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday, January 12, about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital. The quake was the worst in the region in more than 200 years. The first responder was the US Coast Guard Cutter Forward, with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter … Read more

2008 – Coast Guard UAS (UAV) Program Office Established Today’s Unmanned Aerial  Vehicles (UAVs) owe much to the design of the cruise missiles that were used in World War II by the US and British forces. At the close of World War II, Chance Vought Aircraft, a company with no missile experience, was contracted to … Read more

2008 – Coast Guard Aviation Logistics Center Dedicated On October 30, 2008, the Vice Commandant of the Coast Guard recognized the evolution of the former Aircraft Repair and Supply Center into The Aviation Logistics Center. This event also marked the formal recognition of the implementation of the Coast Guard’s first Mission Support Center and celebrated … Read more

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 … Read more