Final flights, Coast Guard fixed-wing aircraft depart for CC Int'l, new home

CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, UNITED STATES

01.25.2018

Story by Jason Kucera 

Naval Air Station Corpus Christi

The U.S. Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi has called NAS Corpus Christi’s Hangar 41 home for more than 67 years.
Established November 1950, the Sector was originally designated USCG Air Detachment Corpus Christi. It was later re-designated as Group Corpus Christi 30 years later and deemed fully operational as one of 13 Coast Guard Group units responsible for all coast lines and waterways between Port O’Connor, Texas, and the Mexican border.
In May 2005, the Group then commissioned to USCG Sector Corpus Christi, combining air and sea assets in the region.
Today, the new Sector headquarters is complete at Corpus Christi International Airport. Coast Guardsmen are moving equipment, and offices, from the old hangar to the new building.
Recently, the three HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplanes the Air Station has used extensively for many years in rescue and law enforcement operations took their final flights from the base to their new home at CCIA.
“I’m really thrilled to open a new chapter and building for the Corpus Christi Sector and Air Station,” said Capt. Tony Hahn, sector/air station commander. “Being a part of NAS for so long and all of the missions flown out of there is a great memory for the Coast Guard.”
The unique aspect for the Air Station was the hangar location in proximity to the airfield aboard the base along Ocean Drive. With Coast Guard missions frequently being an emergency response nature, it was important that crews could assemble onto the aircraft as quickly as possible. Having the aircraft located in the hangar where the Sector and Air Station operated from was key to getting the plane into the air. However, the location also created a situation that required the aircraft to taxi across Ocean Drive to reach the airfield and runways before taking flight.
At CCIA, the Sector now has taxiways leading directly to the new hangar that houses the three HC-144’s and crew, cutting down on the time it takes to respond to critical situations, according to Hahn.
“For the past few years, we’ve anxiously been watching the new facility being built and completed. Everyone now is just really excited to be in a new facility with so much space and efficiency.”
Over the many missions the aircraft have flown from Truax Field, they have helped detain hundreds of illegal fisherman encroaching into American waters to prevent damage to the Gulf of Mexico fish population and habitats; have helped spot out the wayward boater lost at sea; and have provided important “eyes from the sky” before, during and after Hurricane Harvey’s descent onto the Texas coast in 2017.
Sector CC personnel conduct over 450 search and rescue operations, assist more than 500 people in distress, saving hundreds of lives; also seizing over 5,000 pounds of illegal drugs; interdiction in hundreds of illegal immigrant cases; conduct frequent marine facility visits for safety and licensing inspections; and provide support to more than 37 USCG cutters and boats in the Atlantic Area fleet.
“One of the great advantages of the new facility at CCIA is we have pulled almost all Coast Guard assets in the area under one roof and are able to monitor, communicate and take action quicker than ever before,” said Hahn.

• Date Taken: 01.25.2018
• Date Posted: 01.26.2018 13:38
• Story ID: 263445
• Location: CORPUS CHRISTI, TX, US