Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is an Air Station

United States Coast Guard Air Stations

A Coast Guard Air Station provides aviation support for the United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard operates approximately 210 aircraft from 24 Coast Guard Air Stations in the United States. Fixed-wing aircraft, such as the HC 130 Hercules built for long range missions operate from air stations...

 of the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 located in Kodiak, Alaska

Kodiak, Alaska

Kodiak is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...

. It is one of the largest units in the Coast Guard, and the largest in the service's Pacific Area, with a crew of 65 officers and 317 enlisted personnel. It is a tenant command of Base Support Unit Kodiak, and shares its airfield with Kodiak Airport

Kodiak Airport

-Top Destinations:-Charter/Tours:Charters are generally available to the Kodiak archipelago and Katmai coast.* Andrews Airways* Island Air Service* Servant Air- External links :* * * * * **...

. The station operates HH-60 Jayhawk

HH-60 Jayhawk

The Sikorsky HH-60J Jayhawk is a multi-mission, twin-engine, medium-range helicopter operated by the United States Coast Guard for search and rescue, law enforcement, military readiness and marine environmental protection missions...

 and HH-65 Dolphin

HH-65 Dolphin

The Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin is a twin-engined, single main rotor, MEDEVAC-capable Search and Rescue helicopter operated by the United States Coast Guard...

 helicopters, and the HC-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft.

History

Air Station Kodiak was commissioned as an Air Detachment in April 1947, with seven pilots and 30 enlisted men operating a single PBY Catalina

PBY Catalina

The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...

. This was the Coast Guard's first aircraft permanently stationed in Alaska.

Operations

The station's primary mission is aerial search and rescue in a 4000000 square miles (10,359,952.4 km²) area of responsibility covering the Gulf of Alaska

Gulf of Alaska

The Gulf of Alaska is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, where Glacier Bay and the Inside Passage are found.The entire shoreline of the Gulf is...

, Bristol Bay

Bristol Bay

Bristol Bay is the eastern-most arm of the Bering Sea, at 57° to 59° North 157° to 162° West in Southwest Alaska. Bristol Bay is 400 km long and 290 km, wide at its mouth...

, the Bering Sea

Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....

, and Alaska's Pacific coast. It is also responsible for patrolling offshore fisheries, deploying HH-65 helicopters aboard High Endurance Cutter

High endurance cutter

The designation of High endurance cutter was created in 1965 when the United States Coast Guard adopted its own designation system. High endurance cutters encompassed its largest cutters previously designated by the United States Navy as Coast Guard gunboats , Coast Guard destroyer escorts , and...

s operating off Alaska, and providing logistical support to various Coast Guard units in the area. The latter mission includes transporting aids to navigation personnel who maintain remote shore beacons that are only accessible by air.