Welcome to Coast Guard City U.S.A. An Independence Day tribute to Traverse City’s own defenders of life and law
One of the recent missions of Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City: Flying out to make repairs to the Stannard Rock Lighthouse, which stands in Lake Superior nearly 25 miles from the shore of the Keweenaw Peninsula — the farthest of any lighthouse in the contiguous United States.
By Craig Manning The good news is easy to see along the west end of Grand Traverse Bay this week: After the 2020 summer that wasn’t, the National Cherry Festival has made its grand return to Traverse City this summer — as sure a sign as any that life is approaching “normal” again, and that the pandemic is nearly behind us. The bad news: The uncertainty of a 2021 Cherry Festival means that organizers had to make some tough calls early on about what they could or could not reasonably plan for, which meant that certain festival fixtures — particularly the Cherry Festival Air Show — won’t be happening this year. Historically, if there’s been a centerpiece to the Cherry Festival, it might just be the air show. Something about seeing and hearing (and feeling!) a cadre of jets and airplanes fly over Grand Traverse Bay, many exhibiting various acts of extreme death-defying daring, just screams “summer in Traverse City,” and has for many years. That tradition will be back in 2022. For the first time since 2018, the Blue Angels are scheduled to make their return to the Cherry Festival; they’ll be here July 2¬–4, 2022. While you might have to wait a year for a proper Cherry Festival Air Show, that doesn’t mean you can’t catch glimpses of jaw-dropping aerobatic feats right here in northern Michigan. As home to one of
two Coast Guard Air Stations on the Great Lakes, Traverse City regularly serves as a hub for intrepid rescue missions, Homeland Security matters, and even hurricane responses — all of which put crewmembers up in the air. In lieu of the 2021 Cherry Festival Air Show that will never be, Northern Express worked with the Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City to recap some of the scariest, most challenging, and most impressive missions to launch from the local Air Station in recent memory. FIRST, SOME BACKGROUND The United States Coast Guard was first established by the U.S. Congress in 1790, at the request of then-Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Known at its start as “the Revenue-Marine” — and headed up by Hamilton personally — the branch existed in the early days for one purpose: Collecting customs duties at American seaports. The branch changed its name, to “the Revenue Cutter Service,” in 1894, and in 1915, Congress merged it with the U.S. Life-Saving Service, thus creating the U.S. Coast Guard. Air Station Traverse City was officially commissioned in November 1945, celebrating its 75th anniversary last year. It is one of two Coast Guard aviation units stationed on the Great Lakes, with the other in located in Detroit. Air Station Detroit
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handles missions on the eastern portion of the Great Lakes, including Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and part of Lake Huron. Air Station Traverse City flies missions on Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and the northern portion of Lake Huron. According to Brandon Skelly, a Coast Guard lieutenant (junior grade) based at Air Station Traverse City, there are approximately 120 active-duty personnel stationed in Traverse City, “who do everything from fly and maintain the aircraft, to maintaining the buildings and property, ordering parts and supplies, and cooking delicious meals for the crew.” Central to the Air Station’s operations are a trio of Sikorsky MH-60T “Jayhawk” helicopters, which Skelly describes as “a Coast Guard-specific variant of the Army’s Black Hawk.” What do Air Station Traverse City missions look like? Many, Skelly says, fall into the Coast Guard’s most “wellrecognized” mission category, which is search and rescue. In the past year alone, the Air Station Traverse City crew has responded to 120 search and rescue cases — “saving 26 lives and assisting 74 others … But we also conduct law enforcement, border security, and aids-to-navigation missions on a regular basis,” he adds. THE MACHINES The Jayhawk helicopters are well-
suited to northern Michigan’s harsh winter elements and long spans of open water. According to Skelly, they come equipped with “main rotor and tail rotor blade deicing capability and engine anti-icing capability, which makes them better suited for the winter environment up here,” as well as “longer fuel endurance and range [than some other Coast Guard helicopters].” At cruise speed, the Jayhawks can travel 125 knots, and can fly for five hours straight without having to refuel. The copters are also loaded with rescue equipment, ranging from a rescue basket, which can be lowered down from the helicopters so that survivors can climb aboard; to a dewatering pump, which is crucial for missions that involve sinking boats or other vessels that are taking on water. Perhaps most importantly, the Jayhawks are ready to fly at (almost) a moment’s notice. A duty crew is on site at Air Station Traverse City 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and that crew “will be airborne within 30 minutes” of an alert, Skelly says, “pending any additional flight planning” due to factors such as weather or the specific challenges of the mission at hand. When a helicopter does need to take off for a mission, it’s typically manned by a crew of four: two pilots, a flight mechanic to operate the rescue hoist, and a rescue swimmer who is also a trained EMT.
