United States Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater (CGAS Clearwater) is the United States Coast Guard's largest air station. It is located at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport in Clearwater, Florida and is home to nearly 700 USCG aviation and support personnel. As of March 2021, there are ten MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters and four HC-130H Hercules aircraft assigned to CGAS Clearwater. Also on static display is USCG 1023, a restored Grumman HU-16 Albatross.
Air Station Clearwater also operates two aviation facilities in The Bahamas, one at Great Inagua and the other at the United States Navy's Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) installation at Andros Island. These facilities support continually deployed MH-60Ts from various Coast Guard air stations for Operations Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT), a joint U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Coast Guard counter-narcotics (CN) and migrant smuggling interdiction operation.
History
In 1934, a Coast Guard air station was commissioned on the west coast of Florida at Albert Whitted Airport in downtown St. Petersburg. Designated as Coast Guard Air Station St. Petersburg, it subsequently became a home base for various Coast Guard amphibious aircraft and helicopters. In 1976, the addition of four land-based HC-130 Hercules aircraft, replacing the air station's HU-16E Albatross amphibious aircraft and augmenting the air station's HH-3F Pelican helicopters, combined with the limited airfield facilities and safety margins at Albert Whitted Airport for large fixed-wing aircraft, prompted the construction of and relocation to new facilities at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. With this move, AIRSTA St. Petersburg was downgraded to a non-flying installation renamed Coast Guard Station St. Petersburg (STA St. Petersburg) and the relocated air station's name was changed to U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater.
CGAS Clearwater has a rich history and its operations have been at the heart of significant events in Florida and the Caribbean for many years. In the early 1980s, its high operations tempo earned AIRSTA Clearwater two Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Humanitarian Service Medal, and the Coast Guard Unit Commendation. It was also during this time that the air station provided crucial support to the USCG surface fleet during the Cuban refugee boat lift. Shortly thereafter, AIRSTA Clearwater answered the call to duty with other U.S. military forces during Operation Urgent Fury, the Grenada rescue mission, and was awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for its support of the invasion as well as the Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation for its continual support efforts. Later that same year another Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation was awarded to AIRSTA Clearwater for its role in Operation Wagon Wheel, an international drug interdiction effort.
In 1986, following on the success of the previous operation, AIRSTA Clearwater conducted Operation Hunter. This drug interdiction effort planted the seeds for what is today's OPBAT (Operation Bahamas and Turks and Caicos). Perhaps the single most noteworthy mission for the air station also came in 1986, during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger. AIRSTA Clearwater crews responded immediately, the initial crew arriving on scene so quickly that it had to stand off while the debris from the explosion continued to fall from the sky. In all, AIRSTA Clearwater flew 33 sorties on the Challenger mission and was awarded a Coast Guard Unit Commendation with Operational device.
CGAS Clearwater became the Coast Guard's largest air station in 1987 with the expansion of the drug interdiction mission, Operation Bahamas, Turks, and Caicos (OPBAT). This large ongoing mission resulted in the eventual assignment of twelve HH-60J Jayhawk helicopters, then the newest in the Coast Guard fleet, and boosted personnel strength to over 500 men and women. Also during this period, three additional HC-130s were stationed at AIRSTA Clearwater to support the increased law enforcement efforts. The air station's motto of "Anytime, Anywhere" accurately describes its pace of operations.