Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point is an
air station of the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
located approximately 13½ miles west of
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
, at the
Kalaeloa Airport
Kalaeloa Airport , also called John Rodgers Field (the original name of Honolulu International Airport) and formerly Naval Air Station Barbers Point, is a joint civil-military regional airport of the State of Hawaii established on July 1, 1999, ...
,
on the
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
an island of
Oahu
Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
. Initially the Coast Guard established a base on the Hawaiian Archipelago in 1945, with a pair of
PBY-5 Catalinas and one
Grumman G-21 Goose
The Grumman G-21 Goose is an amphibious flying boat designed by Grumman to serve as an eight-seat "commuter" aircraft for businessmen in the Long Island area. The Goose was Grumman's first monoplane to fly, its first twin-engined aircraft, a ...
. The air unit maintained supervision for the windward side of Oahu. In 1949 the Command moved to
Naval Air Station Barbers Point
Naval Air Station Barbers Point , on O'ahu, also called John Rodgers Field (the original name of Honolulu International Airport), is a former United States Navy airfield closed in 1999, and renamed Kalaeloa Airport. Parts of the former air stati ...
, and in 1965 the unit received its current designation of Coast Guard Air Station Barbers point. For 24 years the
Sikorsky HH-52 Seaguard
The Sikorsky HH-52 Seaguard (company designation S-62) was an early amphibious helicopter designed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It was the first of the company's amphibious rotorcraft to fly.
The S- ...
was the primary
search-and-rescue helicopter, unit 1987 when it was retired and replaced with the
Aérospatiale HH-65 Dolphin
The Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin is a twin-engined helicopter operated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for medevac-capable search and rescue (SAR) and armed Airborne Use of Force missions. It is a variant of the French-built Eurocopter A ...
. The fixed wing component has consisted of various models of the
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...
which have been assigned to the unit since 1959. Currently, AIRSTA Barbers Point has the
HC-130
The Lockheed HC-130 is an extended-range, search and rescue (SAR)/ combat search and rescue (CSAR) version of the C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, with two different versions operated by two separate services in the U.S. armed fo ...
H model in use, configured primarily as a search and rescue aircraft. It has the ability to airdrop rescue equipment to survivors at sea or on land. It can take off and land on short, unprepared airfields.
Today 200 officers and enlisted personnel maintain a continuous service for the Fourteenth Coast Guard District. Duties include aviation mission support for Search and Rescue, Marine Environmental Protection, Maritime Law Enforcement and Aids to Navigation. Since 1979, the unit has been awarded two Coast Guard Unit Commendations and four Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations for exemplary service.
References
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Airports in Hawaii
Transportation in Honolulu County, Hawaii
Military in Hawaii
United States Coast Guard Air Stations
1965 establishments in Hawaii