Historical Narratives
Chronicles of Coast Guard Aviation
A collection of documents giving compelling accounts of significant events and the biographies of pioneers in Coast Guard Aviation.
Coast Guard Aviation and the Drug War
The counter cultural movement of the 1960s is not America’s first experience with a resourceful drug culture. In many instances drugs that became illegal were first introduced by doctors as...
And That’s The Way It Was: Combat SAR in Vietnam
The goal of the combat rescue and recovery units during the Vietnam conflict was to get to those in peril before the enemy did. Whether the mission was an extraction or the pickup of a downed...
Out of the Wreckage
Last year, a Yukon couple investigated a crashed plane in the B.C. mountains near Alaska. What they uncovered solved another family's 50-year-old mystery...
The Coast Guard’s Air War At Sea
By 1974 the Coast Guard law enforcement responsibilities started to expand at almost an overwhelming at rate. This was addressed using a combination of a Coast Guard Cutter with a helicopter...
Rough Seas and Cigars
Of many milestones occurring in naval aviation from mid 1940 through the 1950s, four determined the future of seaplane operations offshore: 1.) Large seaplane open sea landing and takeoff...
Alaskan Monarch Trapped by Ice
Ice, an old time foe of Bering Sea vessels claimed another victim, but not before a Coast Guard Helicopter hoisted the ship's crewmen back to safety....
Hafa Adai and Salty Dogs
This story, in a sense an adventure, tells of our tour in Guam. It took place in a time and environment that is no more. As a family, we had a choice to either enjoy the tour or hate it. We chose...
Did You Really Do That?
While at ARSC as the Chief of the Engineering Division, I was called upon for some zany missions. One of them was to proceed to the CG LORAN Station Cape Christian, Northwest Territories in...
Betsy: The Other Hurricane
The night of 9 September was a night to be remembered. Betsy took a bead on the City and came ashore at Port Sulfur with sustained winds of 155 mph. It continued almost directly over the...
Genesis of the Coast Guard HH-65 Helicopter
A detailed narrative of the process that began with the initial aircraft requirements and takes us through the selection and testing procedures up to the acceptance of the HH- 65....
The Sinking That Never Happened by an Airplane That Never Flew
At the 2010 Jacksonville CGAA Roost, I had the pleasure of meeting Ptero Jack, P-3166, and Merle Sutherlin. Jack was an Aviation Radioman (ARM-2) during WWII and was stationed at San Diego from...
Cap’n Mac and Flying Coffins
This is a copy of a paper delivered in a talk about Captain Donald B. MacDiarmid, USCG to the Port Angeles Historical Society, February 3, 2002....
JATO – The Early Days
Early one morning in 1944 the crew of a Navy PBM3C delivered to the Coast Guard San Diego Air Station a liquid propellant rocket motor system to be used in rescue seaplane landing and takeoff...
Who Saw This Coming
The USCG provides assistance for the retrieval of 2 astronauts aboard the first Gemini 3 flight....
Bernie’s Air Stories
“For those born after I ended my flying career in 1975, welcome to the old timers’ world of round engines and boat hulls, where piloting was as much art as skill, and good airmanship was...
Eyes of the Icebreakers
When the ice chokes the life out of the Great Lakes shipping industry, iy is up to the Coast Guard to dee that this like is restored....
U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Pilots
The Coast Guard Aviation Pilots (APs) had a very positive effect on Coast Guard aviation and contributed greatly to our heritage. There were a total of 223 Coast Guard Aviation Pilots with the...
The Indispensable Men
The U.S. Life Saving Service & the Wright Brothers, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, 1903...
Hurricane Katrina
We have struggled to find words which adequately express our admiration, respect, and appreciation for the Herculean efforts of the many, many Coast Guard men and women who made the Coast Guard...
A Different Time – A Different Environment
LORAN was a ‘Top Secret” project, directed by the Coast Guard during World War II, in response to the need of military ships and aircraft for a precise navigational system. The importance of...
A Hand Salute to an Outstanding Group
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...
Nostalgic Sea Language
The rich colorful vocabulary of the sea from generations past is still an invariant part of daily English language. Most people do not know the origins of words and phrases that have become...
Number 66260
The plane that missed the war but still fought on. Number 66260 served Navy, Coast Guard and fire efforts....
CGAS Sangley Point History
This document contains pictures and text covering the activities and memories of the USCG Philippines Section and USCG Air Station, Sangley Point....
Grand Fun While It Lasted
The Coast Guard Career Of Captain Pete Prindle, Coast Guard Aviator Number #1184...
Special Unit Profile USCG Air Station Miami
This article is published here by courtesy of the Professional Pilot's Magazine and is a special Report on "The Busiest Air/Sea Rescue Unit in the World."...
CDR Elmer Archie Stone
This is a publication that is a forerunner for a book on CDR Elmer F. Stone, USCG Pilot of the NC-4 and many other achievements....
Coast Guard Aviation
A history of Coast Guard Aviation written by the CGAA historian of the time....
Rotary Wings and Other Things
This is the story of CDR Stewart Ross Graham, CG Aviator #40, CG Helicopter Pilot #2, Member CG Aviation Hall of Fame and his experiences in aviation....
The Story of Coast Guard Aviation
Published in the June 1959 issue of the Naval Institute Proceedings is this article by LCOL Robert Rankin, USMC and Mr. Norman Rubin, former Aeronautical Engineer, USCGHQ title The Story of Coast...
The Future Of CG Aviation
This document was found in the archives of the USCG Historian and has been extracted herein along with some photos of Capt Kossler, awards presented posthumously and the final extract from his...
Story of CF Edge – Locating First CG Air Station Alaska
Story of the Alaskan Adventures of LCDR Clarence F. Edge. Captain Carl Swickley wrote this article published by the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation....
A Star is Born – Story of the RD Dolphin Pterodactyls placed in the Naval Air Museum
An RD-4 Dolphin painted in CG colors will be presented to the Naval Aviation Museum recalling the origination of the first fleet of seaplanes (flying lifeboats) in the Coast Guard. This is an...
Naval Air Station Sidney WWI
This publication provides the history and background for the establishment of a Naval Air Station at North Sidney, Nova Scotia in the fall of 1918 and was to be commanded by First LT Robert...
The Grumman Albatross – A World Beater
An extract from "Kicking Tires and Lighting Fires" by C.W. Swickley and photos from the personal collection of CAPT Wally Dahlgren about setting some 9 world records for seaplanes....
Cigars and Rough Weather
Capt D. B. MacDiarmid and his famous cigars, and open water landing techniques....
First Helo Ice Breaker Deployment
This document is a photographic chronicle of the first helo deployment for the international ice patrol off of Greenland aboard CGC Northwind WAGB-282 and using HNS-1 CGNR 39047. The pilot was...
North Star J2F Duck
Captain Bob Workman, Av Num #914 submitted this image and documentation about the scout plane flying off of the CGC Northstar on the Greenland Patrol in WWII 1941 on to 1945....
The Day I Was Ten Feet Tall
This is a narrative, an eyewitness participant in the very first helicopter rescue deployment in the world. When Sabena (Belgian) DC-4 Flight 00OCG crashed in Newfoundland in September 1946 the...
CG Aviation Beginning Demise Resurrection
This narrative begins with the first Coast Guard Air Station and follows the path to full acceptance and permanence by 1937....
The Legacy of Commander Elmer F. Stone – Coast Guard Aviator #1
This is a compendium of official correspondence, certificates, documents and photos covering the legacy of CDR Elmer F. Stone in his service to his country....
The First Transatlantic Flight
This article was taken from a speech by Captain Frank A. Erickson, USCG (Ret) at CGAS Houston in 1966 and printed in the USCG Academy Alumni Bulletin. Captain Erickson is enshrined in the US...
A Brief History of Coast Guard Aviation
This article was taken from a speech by Captain Frank A. Erickson, USCG (Ret) at CGAS Houston in 1966 and printed in the USCG Academy Alumni Bulletin. Captain Erickson is enshrined in the US...
Some Recollections of Early Coast Guard Aviation
An article on Early CG Aviation by Captain William P. Wishar, CG Aviator #5 for the USCG Academy Alumni Bulletin published in 1970....
The Norther
This publication "The Norther" was published as a testament to the USCG can do spirit for in 1969 the Northwind and her crew traversed both ways in the same season through the northwest passage....
Operation Tight Reign
Operation Tight reign was the classified project to instal and operate a special chain of Loran C in the southeast Asian area to enhance precision bombing. Included are three essays: Strategic...
Wolfpack and Sunday Comics
In January 1944, the British put 2 YR-4 helos on the British M/V Daghestan and Lt Stew Graham, USCG acting as pilot, completed the mission by successfully flying off the merchantman in convoy....
A History of the United States Coast Guard Catalina, PBY-5, No. V-189
This is a history of the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation manufactured and configured Catalina flying-boat, PBY-5, V-189, its pilots, navigators ; who, in many situations, accomplished the near...
CGAS Port Angeles WWII Diary
The CGAS Port Angeles War Dairy was uncovered in 1959, but it has taken until, now to get it preserved n digital format. The PDF document may be read on line or downloaded to your computer. It is...
Waco J2W-1 and El Paso Detachment
This story by AOM1 Jack Shea, former USCGR aviation member, is the only detailed document we have found about the Border Patrol and the establishment and short history of CGAD El Paso. It does...
US Coast Guard and Goats In Greece
During the summer of 1969 Greece was under the tyrannical rule of the “Colonels.” Communists on all borders were ready to invade and the Turks continued to be always a nuisance. Strangers avoided...
Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn’s 50th Anniversary
This book is dedicated to all the men and women who served at Coast Guard Air Station Brooklyn during its first fifty years of service....
History of Operations at USCGAS Biloxi
This short history of the CGAS Biloxi operations was written by LTC Ted Morris, USAF (formerly AM2, USCG) and permission was graciously given to reproduce it herein. Pictures have been added and...
Coast Guard Aviation in Vietnam
This is the story of those Coast Guard aviators who flew as part of the U.S. Air Force Combat Rescue Forces during the Vietnamese Conflict. The men who wrote this virtually unknown chapter of...