Coast Guard Would Remove Two From Charleston, SC, One From Newport, OR

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has proposed removing two Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters from its base in Charleston, SC, as well as one from Newport, OR, and that plan is not sitting well with three U.S. Senators ... or the U.S. Marine Corps.

South Carolina's two Republican Senators ... Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham ... have written to the commandant of the Coast Guard to say that "the decision to remove this life-saving asset is shortsighted and will result in longer response times when mere minutes and seconds are the difference between life and death." They urge the USCG to reverse its decision to re-deploy the aircraft.

Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has joined the effort, as the three seek funding to keep aircraft stationed in both states.

The Post and Courier newspaper reports that the U.S. Marine Corps is also opposed to the plan as they look to begin training pilots in the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. As many as 88 are expected to be stationed at Beaufort, SC. The Coast Guard plan is to close its Johns Island, SC remote air facility where one of its five SAR helos assigned to the Savannah, GA station is based by the end of November. That aircraft would be re-deployed to Savannah and then to another station along with a second helicopter, leaving the Savannah station with only three aircraft to provide SAR services along 600 miles of Atlantic coast from mid-Florida to the North Carolina line.

The Marine Corps says it is concerned about its pilots training to fly in the brand-new F-35, what the accident rate might be, and what might happen to the pilot if one of those airplanes goes into the water.

The projected savings to the Coast Guard budget is $6 million out of an overall $15 billion budget. The USCG said it is closing the Charleston remote base due to a 43 percent drop in SAR missions from 2011 to 2014.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.uscg.mil