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Air Station Kodiak
Unit Patch CGAS Kodiak
Active	1947-present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Coast Guard
Type	Air Station
Role	Search and rescue, maritime patrol, logistics
Aircraft flown
Helicopter	MH-60 Jayhawk, MH-65 Dolphin
Patrol	HC-130 Hercules

Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is an Air Station of the United States Coast Guard located in Kodiak, Alaska. It is the largest in the service's Pacific Area, with a crew of 85 officers and 517 enlisted personnel, and the largest Coast Guard Base in terms of physical size at 23,000 acres. It is a tenant command of Base Support Unit Kodiak, and shares its airfield with Kodiak Airport. The station operates MH-60 Jayhawk and MH-65 Dolphin helicopters, and the HC-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft.

History

The United States Navy started construction of a naval air station at Kodiak in September 1939, and the station was commissioned on 15 June 1941. Home to PBY patrol squadrons early in World War II, Kodiak supported the Aleutian Islands Campaign of 1943, also operating scouting and air transport squadrons. In October 1950, NAS Kodiak was redesignated as Naval Station Kodiak, and in 1972 the site was turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak was originally commissioned as an Air Detachment in April 1947, with seven pilots and 30 enlisted men operating a single PBY Catalina. 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 4,000,000-square-mile (10,000,000 km) area of responsibility covering the Gulf of Alaska, Bristol Bay, the Bering Sea, and Alaska's Pacific coast. It is also responsible for patrolling offshore fisheries, deploying HH-65 helicopters aboard High Endurance Cutters 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.

Popular culture

CGAS Kodiak is one of the main locations of the 2006 action-adventure drama film The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, and Melissa Sagemiller. However, the film was shot at Air Station Elizabeth City in North Carolina, with snow being brought in by trucks to resemble an Alaskan landscape. The setting for the film is the United States Coast Guard and their Aviation Survival Technician (AST) program.

References

1. "Air Station Kodiak". Global Security.org. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
2. "Air Station Kodiak". Retrieved 2 December 2010.
3. "National Museum of Naval Aviation". Archived from the original on 2013-12-04. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
4. "Missions". Retrieved 2 December 2010.

External links

• USCG history of CGAS Kodiak
• Lt Jimmy Zawrotny USCG about life at CGAS Kodiak (2002)

57°45′01″N 152°30′22″W / 57.7503°N 152.5060°W / 57.7503; -152.5060

v t e Current military installations in Alaska
Army	Fort Greely Richardson Wainwright Air Field Allen Bryant Ladd Army National Guard Camp Carroll Camp Denali
Navy	Range Ketchikan
Air Force	Air Force Base Eielson Elmendorf Station Eareckson Air National Guard Base Kulis Joint Base Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson
Space Force	Space Force Station Clear
Coast Guard	Air Station Kodiak Sitka Base Ketchikan Kodiak Station Juneau Ketchikan Valdez Sector Anchorage Juneau Support Center Cordova

• Buildings and structures in Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska
• Military installations in Alaska
• United States Coast Guard Air Stations
• Airports in Alaska
• 1947 establishments in Alaska
• Airports established in 1947