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NHL Winter Classic Flyover
- Thread starter Swanee
- Start date
AIRMMCPORET
Plan “A” Retired
GroundPounder
Well-Known Member
You have to wonder how many people will join up, based on seeing that. Pretty impressive, and maybe the least dangerous thing they will do at work that week.
The last 25 years have kind of changed the dynamic, but I always thought that the USCG was the branch you could join and be guaranteed to do what you trained for, operationally.
The last 25 years have kind of changed the dynamic, but I always thought that the USCG was the branch you could join and be guaranteed to do what you trained for, operationally.
And therein lies the problem. Everyone I saw online was talking about how awesome the USCG was.
I stand corrected.
Okay. So, stupid question, but other than who they work for (DHS vs DoD) what is the difference?
Station SAR units are DoD. They’re a sub-unit of the base and aren’t a “full” squadron per se. They’re typically run by an OIC who reports to the base XO/CO. Pilots and aircrew are active duty whereas the maintenance teams can be a mix of AD or contractors
Pilots and aircrew are sourced from both HSC & HSM, but they all fly Block I (no weapons provisions) MH-60S.
Yeah, not many people know the Navy has orange & white outside Pensacola.
Interestingly, while everyone thinks the short-hauling was cool, word on the street is there's some pee-pee smacking happening due to poorly communicated request to do it.
Will Station SAR respond to civilian boats/airplanes in distress? I know the ANG Rescue units will, but it comes from the USCG (or other agency) through NORTHCOM to the Governor.
I don't remember if Pedro ever did out of KNKT. They were sundowning about the time I was showing up to the VMUs.
I thought they deferred to the CG base in Elizabeth City, but I could be wrong.
I do remember talking to some of the Phrog dudes at Pedro and it was some of the more difficult flying they ever did. BL, the aircraft wasn't built for SAR out over the water at night, like CG helos were.
Yes (caveat that I’m only familiar with Whidbey SAR’s processes). Requests for their support have to go through the AF’s Rescue Coordination Center and be approved by the Base CO. In my experience it’s a pretty quick process to get approval. They supported a few rescues on the local climbing hill for my fire company and were spinning up within 45 minutes on a weekend (they’re alert 30 during the week and alert 60 on the weekends).
I’m not sure how often they do SAR for civilian boats/planes, as most of their publicized rescues involve technical rescues of hikers/climbers in the Cascades or the Olympics or transporting patients from the San Juan Islands to higher levels of care on the mainland, but I’m sure they have the capability. There’s also a USCG Air Station nearby, so there’s a decent amount of task sharing.
The NASWI webpage actually has a pretty good description of their capabilities: https://cnrnw.cnic.navy.mil/Install...nd/About/Aviation-Commands/Search-and-Rescue/