OPPOSITE: HAI/DAN SWEET; ABOVE RIGHT: COURTESY PA1 TRAVIS MAGEE, USCG
Opposite: During a late-evening exercise, crews aboard a Coast Guard MH-65E train with a motor lifeboat team to conduct rescue basket transfers. The helicopter and lifeboat are both part of Coast Guard Sector North Bend, Oregon.
Below: Lt. Tyler Reynolds (left) and Lt. (j.g.) Jonathan Emas at the controls of an MH-65E.
F
OR MANY YEARS, THE US COAST GUARD had a reputation for responding to distress calls in some of the worst weather imaginable. More recently, however, the Coast Guard is working to reverse the mission-driven “we have to go
out, we don’t have to come back” mindset for pilots and boat crews. At US Coast Guard Sector North Bend, based in Oregon, training and rescue operations put safety first. Oregon’s southern coast is a veritable sports enthusiasts’
paradise, with opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking, and beachcombing among the outdoor leisure choices available to residents and visitors. With that abundance of recreational options comes a corresponding number of challenges for the unlucky or ill-prepared who suddenly find themselves in need of rescue. When those rescue calls come in, US Coast Guard Sector North Bend, part of the 13th Coast Guard
to conduct vertical-surface cliff rescue along the steep bluffs of the southern Oregon coast or to deploy rescue swimmers to vessels in heavy seas. On land, the hoist allows crews to conduct rescues amid tall trees or in other areas unsuitable for landing. Recognizing that it was receiving more calls for inland
hoist rescues, the sector adapted its training program to better meet those requirements. According to commanding officer Capt. Breanna Knutson, inland SAR and associated training is “unique to our AOR [area of responsibility] [and something] that you don’t see in a lot of other Coast Guard units.” Sector North Bend’s AOR extends 220 mi. (354 km) to
the north from Oregon’s southern border with California. Te sector is based—as its name reflects—in the compara- tively remote location of North Bend, Oregon. Te versatility of its helicopters and boats enables sector personnel to handle a wide range of missions, from SAR, for which the Coast Guard is best known; to drug interdictions and law enforcement operations as part of the Department of Homeland Security; to supporting marine wildlife research studies, fisheries patrol, and maritime safety programs. With such a variety of missions and
ever-changing weather, risk mitigation is a factor for every person in the com- mand. “I consider my biggest responsibility is ensuring the operational risk manage- ment of all of our missions,” says Knutson. “We’ve recognized that each person having an input as well has really changed the way we think about risk and risk management.” Forty years ago, in November 1981,
one of the then Air Station North Bend’s helicopters crashed in severe weather. Te Sikorsky HH-52A SeaGuard was
District headquartered in Seattle, Washington, often responds. While the sector’s fleet of motor lifeboats or its 110-ft.
SEE
USCG Sector North Bend’s rescue swimmers doing cave training
(33.5-m) Island-class cutter handle some of the marine rescues, more often one of its five search-and-rescue (SAR) Airbus/Eurocopter MH-65E Dolphin helicopters gets dis- patched. Because the Dolphin is among the only SAR heli- copters in Oregon equipped with a hoist, sector crews respond to as many calls for inland emergency services as they do for coastal or offshore rescue. For those rescues, the hoist is used
responding to a night call from a fishing boat in distress during a severe storm with winds exceeding 90 kt. and seas with 25-ft. (7.6-m) waves. After launching, the crew realized that the weather was deteriorating fast. While they were trying to return to base, an engine malfunctioned and they crashed attempting an autorotation into the surf line. Te three-person crew included station commanding officer Capt. Frank W. Olson, copilot Lt. Glenn Gunn, and rescue swimmer AE2 Kenneth A. Zeigler. Olson died after ensuring
DECEMBER 2022 ROTOR 27
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