CGAS Elizabeth City was commissioned on August 15, 1940, with four officers, 52 enlisted men and ten aircraft including three Hall PH-2 seaplanes, four Fairchild J2K landplanes, and three Grumman J2F Duckamphibious aircraft. It is located sixty miles north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, north of Albemarle Sound and along the East Coast's northernmost ice-free river. Bayside Plantation, owned by the Hollowell family, near Elizabeth City, North Carolina, was selected by the United States Coast Guard in 1938 for its potential strategic value as a seaplane base.
Since then, the AIRSTA Elizabeth City's missions and assigned aircraft have shifted and grown with changing national priorities and technologies. In 1966 Air Station Elizabeth City expanded after absorbing the coast guard air stations at Kindley AFB, Bermuda and NAS Argentia, Newfoundland.[3]
Coast Guard Air Station (CGAS) Elizabeth City is one of several commands located on the campus of the Coast Guard Base Elizabeth City. The base complex houses the Aviation Technical Training Center (ATTC) (a headquarters level command which trains enlisted Coast Guardsmen in aviation ratings in "A" Schools and advanced "C" Schools), the Aviation Logistics Center (ALC) and Station Elizabeth City, the small boat search and rescue station. Base Elizabeth City also provides military healthcare including sick call, physicals, and dental at the on-board clinic, as well as emergency services with a staffed 24 hours a day Fire and Police Department (ambulance service is provided by local EMS). Base Fire & Police Departments, staffed by a mix of civilian GS positions and active duty members, frequently respond to off-base emergencies supporting local agencies on various types of incidents.
Currently, CGAS Elizabeth City maintains and operates five HC-130J Hercules aircraft and four MH-60T Jayhawk helicopters.
Popular culture
Air Station Elizabeth City was the setting (and used as a double for Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, Alaska) in the 2006 film The Guardian. Base personnel were instrumental in providing the infrastructure and support necessary to the filming of the motion picture.
In 2018, the Air Station provided a helicopter and flight crew to assist in the filming of the reboot Jack Ryan series on Amazon Prime. Four crew members including two pilots were featured in the pilot episode, with two members having speaking roles. In the episode, the HH60J Jayhawk helicopter lands in the back yard of a dinner party, with an Aviation Survival Technician and Aviation Maintenance Technician exiting the aircraft to search for the main character.
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