Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point is an air station of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

located approximately 13½ miles west of

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, at the Kalaeloa Airport, on the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

. Initially the Coast Guard established a base on the Hawaiian Archipelago in 1945, with a pair of PBY-5 Catalinas and one Grumman G-21 Goose. The air unit maintained supervision for the windward side of Oahu. In 1949 the Command moved to

Naval Air Station Barbers Point Naval Air Station Barbers Point , on O'ahu, home to John Rodgers (naval officer, World War I), John Rodgers Field (the original name of Honolulu International Airport), is a former United States Navy airfield closed in 1999, and renamed Kalaeloa ...

, and in 1965 the unit received its current designation of Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point. For 24 years the Sikorsky HH-52 Seaguard was the primary search-and-rescue helicopter, unit 1987 when it was retired and replaced with the

Aérospatiale HH-65 Dolphin The Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin is a twin-engined helicopter operated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for medevac-capable search and rescue (SAR) and armed Airborne Use of Force missions. It is a variant of the French-built Eurocopter AS ...

. The fixed wing component has consisted of various models of the

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

which have been assigned to the unit since 1959. Currently, AIRSTA Barbers Point has four HC-130J Super Hercules in use, configured primarily as a long-range search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, and logistical support aircraft. It has the ability to airdrop rescue equipment to survivors at sea or on land. It can take off and land on short, unprepared airfields. Today 250 officers and enlisted personnel maintain a continuous service for the Fourteenth Coast Guard District. Duties include aviation mission support for Search and Rescue, Marine Environmental Protection, Maritime Law Enforcement and Aids to Navigation. Since 1979, the unit has been awarded two Coast Guard Unit Commendations and four Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations for exemplary service.

References

{{authority control Airports in Hawaii Transportation in Honolulu County, Hawaii Military in Hawaii United States Coast Guard Air Stations 1965 establishments in Hawaii