COVID-19 UPDATE: Visitor Screening – As per new Coast Guard policy, Air Station Sacramento has implemented additional COVID protocols for visitors. Anyone not assigned to Air Station Sacramento is considered a visitor and prior to arrival shall provide proof of their vaccination status to their unit sponsor. For non-vaccinated visitors proof of a negative COVID test within the prior 72 hours is re
quired. Air Station Sacramento is the Coast Guard's only base of operations for fixed-wing aircraft on the Pacific Coast of the contiguous United States. Commissioned on the fifth of September 1978, it is located at the north end of McClellan Airfield. Air Station Sacramento was established as an outgrowth of Air Station San Francisco, where limited ramp space and an increase in the number of aircraft required that the fixed-wing contingent be relocated. With a complement of 191 officers and enlisted personnel operating five HC-130 Hercules aircraft, Air Station Sacramento was under the operational and administrative control of the Commander, Twelfth Coast Guard District—known today as Coast Guard District Eleven. In 2016, Air Station Sacramento began operating the HC-27J Spartan, the first operational Coast Guard unit to do so. Under the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act, 14 C-27Js were transferred from the U.S. Since then, the Coast Guard has been working to restore these aircraft to bring them out of long-term storage and modify them to enhance the aircraft’s current capability to detect, classify and identify maritime targets. Throughout its history, Air Station Sacramento has participated in a wide range of Coast Guard missions. Primary among them and perhaps most widely known is Search and Rescue. The Air Station has maintained a 24-hour immediate response capability, with a "ready" Search and Rescue crew on duty at all times. Search and rescue coverage is provided for the Eastern Pacific Area, the entire west coast of the United States, areas west of Canada, and south along the Baja California coast. Other missions of Air Station Sacramento are Marine Environmental Protection and Maritime Law Enforcement. These efforts include fisheries patrols in support of the Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976 and law enforcement patrols aimed at enforcing the 200-mile limit and combating the ever-present problem of drug smuggling. Drug interdiction patrols are flown year-round and are coordinated with Coast Guard cutters allowing a greater geographic area to be more thoroughly covered. As many as six or eight Coast Guard cutters may be coordinated into a patrol. The aircraft extends the ‘eyes’ of the ships while patrolling not only coastal waters, but shipping lanes and fisheries miles at sea. The ships provide boarding capability should a violation be detected by the surveillance aircraft. Another major area of responsibility of Air Station Sacramento is that of providing transportation for the Pacific Strike Team, the Coast Guard’s oil spill prevention and containment team on the West Coast. Located at Hamilton Field, the Strike Team is immediately alerted in the event of an oil spill, responding to provide expert assistance in containment and cleanup of environmentally damaged areas. Air Station Sacramento further supports the many missions of the Coast Guard by performing logistics flights between the stations, carrying essential cargo and passengers on an ‘as required’ basis.
