As a fisherman born and raised in Kodiak, Alaska I've unfortunately been involved in two instances that needed Coast Guard assistance. Later 70's when tendering (packing salmon) in Cook Inlet we got hit by a container vessel traveling south, needed pumps and C.G. responded. Late 80's while fishing for crab in the Bering Sea got pan caked by a crab pot (days long grind) had to get airlifted out. Absolutely not proud of either instance but terribly glad we had stationed on our beautiful island this elite division that risk their lives to save common folk like me in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea. Kodiak, Alaska is home to the largest Coast Guard base in the USA....Hat's off and sincere thanks for all you do.
I’ve done some work with them since I live on the border n yes, they’re badass, seeing them on their Blackhawk above us in the mobile stack en route to a target is pretty dope, not to mention actually seeing them do work on target is even better, they’re the most highly trained federal agents and you can definitely tell
Those guys can’t risk having their job filmed I mean it’s one thing shooting a SAR video and another thing shooting a video catching illegal immigrants and narcos They definitely don’t want cartels watching it and changing the m.o.
In the early 90s I worked on fishing boats for a few years out of Kodiak. Got to see them in action a few times. It was reassuring to know that if things went south, the Coasties were gonna do whatever they could to come get you.
Thanks for the episode. Kodiak H60 driver 94-96. One of top 5 rescues was a 2-helo rescue of 3 Russian explorers stuck on an iceberg north of the Arctic Circle. So Others May Live.
@@EncrypticMethods thanks for asking! Flew out of AirSta Clearwater 2001-2005. Don't recall any "big ones" during my tenure. Just missed Katrina by a few months.
@@JayAAllen doing well, thank you. Great to hear from you. Funny running in to you on YT. I was on Kodiak ‘98-‘00. Didn’t want to go, didn’t want to leave.
HC-130 Pilot ‘81-83 there. You can describe the conditions, terrain, missions all you want, but until you deal with it, you can’t know just how dangerous it is up there. They were flying HH-3’s and HH-52s when I was up there. I lost 6 friends to mishaps in the two years I was there. No where tougher or more challenging in USCG aviation assignments.Semper Paratus.
I may have been one of your enlisted Navs,I was there 80-84.....moved over to Anchorage and did the rest of my career in the AKANG with the CSAR mission there. AT-2
Well in my time in this is the absolute most daring SAR case bar none! 100 foot wave knocked a Kodiak Jayhawk from the sky during a hoist. The Dolphin on the CGC Alex Haley launched in impossible seas to save everyone. It was crazy! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GZBfdverf44.html
Next i would love to see wilderness firefighter, those lads and lasses are hardcore. sleeping in the forests, thats on fire, between shifts fighting said fire
