Special: The U.S. Coast Guard, AND Military Air Demo Team Frequencies/Schedules

As I write this it is the six-month anniversary of 9-11. Much of the military is in the news, and rightfully so — the Air Force, Army, Marines, and the Navy. There is another branch still quite active, though working quietly here in the states, and I’m not talking about the National Guard or the Reserves. I’m talking about the United States Coast Guard. Technically the Coast Guard is not military and is, in fact, a separate arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the parent company, so to speak, of the Federal Aviation Administration. In time of war the USCG can be attached to the U.S. Navy, but even today the Coast Guard is being used to help patrol our borders and in search and rescue. The Coast Guard has the same responsibility in search and rescue in our oceans and major lakes as the Civil Air Patrol has inland in the U.S.

I was very fortunate to meet with Lt. Brian Eckley, the Public Affairs Officer for the St. Petersburg Coast Guard Air Station (CGAS). This Air Station, formed in 1976, is the largest air station in all of the Coast Guard. The CGAS primarily patrols an area of the Florida Gulf coast from Panama City in the Florida panhandle down to Fort Myers. In all of 2001 the St. Pete CGAS was involved in approximately 600 search and rescue missions. And in fiscal year 2000 the St. Pete. CGAS personnel saved 169 lives and assisted 471 stranded people all primarily in the Gulf of Mexico. To top it off, over nine tons — 18218 pounds of illegal drugs were confiscated. All-in-all quite a satisfying job.