CG Air Station Florida is the largest and busiest Air Station in the Coast Guard. In addition to the local area, their Area of Operations includes the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean basin, and the Bahamas. They constantly maintain deployed H-60s for Operations Bahamas, Turks and Caicos (OPBAT), a joint DEA, Coast Guard, Bahamian Turks and Caicos anti-drug and migrant smuggling operation in the Bahamas. We also have C-130s deployed in support of JIATF operations in the Caribbean. This is done while simultaneously maintaining a constant Bravo Zero Search and Rescue response at home in Florida.
This is the first year that a single CG Air Station has entered the MSC event on their own so Clearwater will be the first! The team members were hand selected at the unit and consist of AMTs experienced in working on HH-60 Jay-hawk and HC-130H Hercules aircraft. The 2013 “CG Air Station Clearwater Florida Team” consists of the following USCG personnel: AMT1 Jim FIELDER – Team Leader; AMT1 James Bastick; AMT2 Dani Church; AMT2 Justin Gozzard; and AET2 Andrew Poulin.