Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Commanded by Commander Vincent J. Jansen, 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 in

Sitka, Alaska russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

. The station was originally established on Annette Island in March 1944, until relocating to Sitka in 1977. Early aircraft consisted of Grumman G-21's,

PBY The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served w ...

’s,

HU-16 The Grumman HU-16 Albatross is a large, twin–radial engined amphibious seaplane that was used by the United States Air Force (USAF), the U.S. Navy (USN), and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), primarily as a search and rescue (SAR) aircraft. Origina ...

’s, HH-52’s, and HH-3 Pelicans. Primary missions performed by the air station are Search and Rescue (SAR), law enforcement, and logistics covering the Southeast part of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. Area of responsibility encompasses approximately 180,000 square miles of water and land extending across

Southeast Alaska Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...

from

Dixon Entrance The Dixon Entrance (french: Entrée Dixon) is a strait about long and wide in the Pacific Ocean at the Canada–United States border, between the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia in Canada. The Dixon Entrance is part of t ...

Icy Bay (Alaska) Icy Bay (Tlingit language, Tlingit: ''Lig̲aasi Áa'') is a body of water in the borough of Yakutat, Alaska, Yakutat, Alaska, formed in the last 100 years by the rapid retreat of the Guyot Glacier, Guyot, Yahtse Glacier, Yahtse, and Tyndall Glacie ...

, and from the Alaskan-Canadian border to the central Gulf of Alaska. This includes 12,000 miles of coastline distinguished by a rugged coast, mountainous terrain, severe weather, and many remote villages. Today, Air Station Sitka maintains three

MH-60T Jayhawk The Sikorsky MH-60T Jayhawk is a multi-mission, twin-engine, medium-range helicopter operated by the United States Coast Guard for search and rescue, Specialist law enforcement agency, law enforcement, military readiness and marine environment ...

helicopters and has 130 officers, enlisted, and civilian personnel. Each helicopter is crewed by two pilots, a flight mechanic, and a

rescue swimmer Rescue swimmer is a designation given to rescue specialists, most commonly in the service of the military. Rescue swimmers usually are charged with the rescue, assessment, and rendering of medical aid to persons in distress in the sea, on the land ...

, has a 125-knot cruise speed, and 700-mile range. These aircrews are in a “ready” or “alert” status 24 hours a day for national defense, search and rescue, and other missions. Sitka crews fly surveillance patrols and transport environmental response teams which protect the ecosystems located within the area. Additionally, crews assists in the routine maintenance, outage response, and position verification of over 75 aids-to-navigation (ATON). Other missions include law enforcement duties in cooperation with federal, state, and local agencies.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 1944 establishments in Alaska Buildings and structures in Sitka, Alaska Military installations in Alaska United States Coast Guard Air Stations Airports in Alaska