Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak

Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak is an Air Station of the United States Coast Guard located in Kodiak, Alaska. It is one of the largest units in the Coast Guard, and the largest in the service's Pacific Area, with a crew of 65 officers and 317 enlisted personnel. It is a tenant command of Base Support Unit Kodiak, and shares its airfield with Kodiak Airport. The station operates HH-60 Jayhawk and HH-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 squadrons early in World War II, Kodiak supported the Aleutian Islands Campaign of 1943, operating scouting and air transport squadrons. In October 1950, Kodiak was designated Naval Station, and in 1972 the site was turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak was 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 4,000000 sqmi 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.

Trivia
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. The setting for the film is the United States Coast Guard and their Aviation Survival Technician (AST) program.