Visiting US Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento, the west coast’s only fixed-wing asset station with an AOR that spans from the Mexican border in the south, to the Canadian border in the north. What exactly is an AOR, and what does the Coast Guard do to keep all of us safe on a daily basis—all this and more in today’s video.

 @SmarterEveryDay   - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFzuRm3wCDk

Some video clips/photos are courtesy of the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

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Leaving Reno, NV, in the morning, we flew over the Sierra Nevada mountains passing the Tahoe National Forrest on our way, and wow, was this a beautiful flight. This was my first experience flying through the mountains, we took it low and slow, and I hugged the road as we crossed the mountains and down into the Sacramento Valley, heading towards our destination McClellan Airfield.

Do the USCG medium range surveillance aircraft have helicopter rescue swimmers?

You can only just barely see the Coast Guard station from this camera angle as we approached and landed at the civilian side of the airfield.

After landing, USCG Public Affairs Officer and C-27 pilot LTJG Gunn picked us up and drove us over to Air Station.

[LTJG intro vid]

One thing that surprised me was the vast array of missions the Coast Guard handles daily. Most of us know about the helicopter search and rescue or SAR missions; we've all seen them on the news or The Weather Channel's Coast Guard Alaska series, rescuing a boater in distress. I didn't realize all of the additional resources the Coast Guard brings to a search and rescue.

Think of this for a minute. The MH-60 Jayhawk, the Coast Guard's version of a Blackhawk helicopter, is incredibly powerful. It is limited to flying 300 miles to the scene of the distressed boater and remaining on scene for 45 minutes to rescue the survivors, then flying back to base. But what happens if the rescue is more than 300 miles out, or if they must spend an hour or two searching first? This is where the limits of a helicopter start to cause logistical problems.

Obviously, I am a helicopter guy; I love them, they are incredibly powerful aircraft, but there are times when a fixed-wing asset really shines, especially when the mission calls for longer flight time, faster speeds, and greater distances. Here is where LTJG Gunn and Air Station Sacramento's C-27 fixed-wing aircraft come in.

If a call goes out within their AOR and it is determined that a fixed-wing aircraft should be part of the mission, as the only fixed-wing station on the west coast of the contiguous US, Air Station Sacramento is placed on the call.
I've mentioned AOR a few times in this video, but what exactly is this?

This AOR encompasses over 1300 miles of coastline, including the area we flew in from Reno earlier in the day. It is comforting to know that should the worst happens, and we had an issue with the helicopter, LTJG and his crew were standing on the watch reading to respond.

It should come as no surprise; the Coast Guard takes safety very seriously. Before every mission, the crew conducts an Operational Risk Management (ORM) process where they evaluate the possible risks of the mission and the possible gains. Or, said another way, is it reasonably safe to conduct a specific mission, or are the risks far greater than the possible reward of success. Obviously, for each mission, the risk tolerance is different depending on the nature of the situation. For example, a boat in distress that is not currently at risk of sinking may not be worth the added risk of sending an aircraft out in bad weather; however, if the boat is already sinking or persons are in the water, then the positive gains of saving human life increases.


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