Displays, Open House Set : Coast Guard Air Station Marks 50th Anniversary

The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in San Diego will celebrate its 50th anniversary Sunday in a ceremony that will chronicle the service’s varied missions since the station was commissioned April 1, 1937.

Coast Guard officials have invited the public to an open house from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the station at 2710 N. Harbor Dr. across from Lindbergh Field. Stanley Linholm, the air station’s first commanding officer in 1936, will attend the ceremonies. Linholm, who assumed command of the air station when he was a lieutenant, is retired and lives in El Toro.

The ceremonies will include a display of all aircraft now used by the Coast Guard on the West Coast. At 1:30 p.m. Coast Guard crews will begin a series of simulated rescues, including pulling a victim from the water, transfering a person from a moving boat to a helicopter and a low-level equipment drop from a jet aircraft.

The demonstrations will take place in the bay adjacent to the station in easy view of the public.

In the early years, Coast Guard aircraft were used for a variety of missions, including dropping mail to isolated San Diego County communities and crash tests that involved landing on the ocean. Since then, the Coast Guard has become synonymous with ocean rescues.

In recent years, the Coast Guard’s mission has been shifted to include drug interdiction on the sea lanes near San Diego. In 1984, high speed Falcon jets were acquired to patrol the coast, chase aircraft attempting to smuggle drugs into the country and for search and rescue operations.

A model airplane and photo exhibit featuring the various aircraft flown by the Coast Guard during its 50 years in San Diego will also be on display. After Sunday’s ceremony, the exhibit will be donated to the Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park, Lt. James Stinson said.

Because of limited parking facilities, Coast Guard officials are recommending that people park along Harbor Drive. Parking for the handicapped will be available close to the air station.

“In addition to the aircraft, we’ll have a couple of cutters on display. We’re going to allow the public to board the cutters and aircraft so the public can have an idea of what our mission is in San Diego and how we accomplish these tasks,” said Stinson.