By ANN Correspondent Rob Milford

Across the Wright Brothers National Monument on Monday, there were a variety of uniforms. Plenty of guys and gals in flight suits, then a pack of Naval Officers in their blues, with white covers, an Air Force Major in his blues, and then another set of blues with some serious gold braid around the cuffs. Wait a minute…that would be an Admiral, right?

In Blues? Hmm.

That sort of cuts it down to the Coast Guard, and it turns out to be Rear Admiral Jim Olson, call sign "Ox" who has the distinction of being the "Ancient Albatross" of the Coast Guard, the aviator who has been on duty the longest period of time… the senior aviator, based on when he got his wings.

For Admiral Olson, that would be in May of 1972.  If you're like me…that makes you feel pretty old.

Since we were on mostly dry land, I wondered what he was doing at Kitty Hawk: "The Coast Guard was here for the first flight!  We helped the Wright Brothers get off the ground. Our surf men were here to help them get the aircraft out of the hangar, one of them took the picture of the first flight. We have a long history with aviation."

In his 31 years on flight duty, Admiral Olson has spent long hours gripping the collective and cyclic, doing virtually all of his flying in helicopters. "I started in the H-3, then the H-52 and finally the H-60. Lately, I've been flying a desk as the director of Operations Capability." His office is just down the hall from the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and I asked how it's been shifting services, from the Department of the Treasury, to Transportation and, most recently, to Homeland Security. "The mission requirements have changed over the years, but we're still protecting the country, and still saving lives."

ANN also wanted to get a quick sit-rep on where Coast Guard Aviation now stands: "We've taken delivery of six new C-130J aircraft. They have the glass cockpits and 6 bladed props. The new Augusta helos are coming into the fleet, and since the mission has changed, we're looking at arming more of our helicopters. That won't be a problem on the H-60J's."

Our conversation was interrupted by multiple fly-bys in the afternoon, and we reminisced about Coast Guard aircraft long gone, including the HU-16 Albatross, the C-123 and C-131 aircraft, many times taken out of mothballs to be used as search & rescue birds. "You were a brave man to fly on those" he said.

We also checked on what the 'Coasties are checking out these days: "The CASA 235, the Bell B-609 and the Eagle Eye drone."

The Admiral smiled. He had three helos on static display on the south side of Kill Devil Hill. The Coast Guard air station a few miles away at Elizabeth City was acting as host for many of the performing and fly-by aircraft. The sun was shining. It was a great day to be at Kitty Hawk.

FMI: www.cg.mil