Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point

Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point
Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point emblem
Active	1965 to present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Coast Guard
Type	Air Station
Role	Search and Rescue
Size	200 active personnel
Commanders
Commanding Officer	Capt. Frederick C. Riedlin[1]
Aircraft flown
Helicopter	MH-65C
Patrol	HC-130H

Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point is an Air Station of the United States Coast Guard located in Oahu, of the Hawaiian Islands. Initially the Coast Guard established a base on the Hawaiian Archipelago in 1945, with a pair of PBY-5 Catalina’s and one Grumman G-21 Goose. The air unit maintained supervision for the windward side of Oahu. In 1949 the Command moved to Naval Air Station Barbers Point, and in 1965 the unit received its current designation of Coast Guard Air Station Barbers point. For 24 years the Sikorsky HH-52 Seaguard was the primary SAR helicopter, unit 1987 when it was retired and replaced with the Aérospatiale HH-65 Dolphin. The fixed wing component has consisted of various models of the C-130 Hercules which have been assigned to the unit since 1959. Currently the "H" model is in use, and is configured primarily as a search and rescue aircraft. It has the ability to airdrop rescue equipment to survivors at sea or on land. furthermore it can take off and land on short, unprepared airfields making the Hercules an ideal logistical support aircraft.^[2]

Today two hundred Officers and enlisted personnel maintain a yearly 24-hour-a-day service for the fourteenth coast guard district, providing 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 unit commendations and four meritorious commendations for exemplary service.^[3]

References

1. "Capt. Frederick C. Riedlin". uscg.mil. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
2. "Air Station Barbers Point History". uscg.mil. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
3. "Air Station Barbers Point". uscg.mil. Retrieved 28 September 2014.

Coordinates: 21°18′04″N 158°04′16″W / 21.301°N 158.071°W