Flightdeck Friday – 100 Years of Naval Aviation and the USCG
As we move deeper into the Centennial celebrations focused on US Naval Aviation, there are those amongst us who think it consists primarily of blue airplanes from WWII flying form with Hornets in throwback blue…and miss a whole other part of our heritage, that provided by the USCG. Aviators from the USCG have been flying side-by-side with their USN and USMC counterparts from the earliest days. In fact, one of the early signatory events – the first crossing of the Atlantic by the NC-4 was piloted in part by a USCG aviator:
(That’s LCDR Stone, USCG – last row, second from the right and looking at the camera — in the Aviation Greens. – SJS)
In fact, if you count the Coast Guardsmen that were assigned to the lifesaving station at Kill Devil Hills who assisted and observed the Wright brother’s attempts at flight, the Coast Guard predates the Navy in matters of aviation.
In war and in peace, USCG aviators flew in all theaters and under all conditions. From SAR in Alaska to U-boat hunting in the Atlantic, the Coast Guard was there. Along the way there was some pioneering of its own, especially where exploring the capabilities of new forms of aviation were concerned:
From silver panted amphibs to today’s orange and white helos and Herk’s, Falcons and Sentry’s; Coast Guard aviation has been a constant though often overlooked part of Naval Aviation, coming to the fore usually only in moments of personal peril and national agony.
USCG HQ is doing its part in peeling back the obscurity with a website dedicated to revealing the history of USCG aviation through legacy photos – you can find it here: http://www.uscg.mil/history/webaircraft/USCGAviationHistoricPhotoGallery1942.asp. (h/t Chuck H.). It is also altogether fitting that there is at least one Heritage scheme for the USCG:
