Coast Guard Capt. Douglas Nash, commanding officer of Coast Guard Air Sation Sacramento, salutes a Coast Guard C-27J pilot during a change of watch ceremony at Air Station Sacramento’s hanger in McClellan Park, Thursday, July 1, 2016. The ceremony marked the final day that an HC-130 Hercules crew stood the watch at Air Station Sacramento and introduced the newest aircraft. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Loumania Stewart
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — U.S. Coast Guard HC-27J Spartan aircraft replaced Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento’s HC-130 Hercules during a change of watch ceremony by crewmembers at Air Station Sacramento’s hanger in McClellan Park Thursday.
The ceremony marked the final day that an HC-130 Hercules crew stood watch at Air Station Sacramento and officially introduced the service’s newest aircraft, the Spartan.
“In the 100th year of Coast Guard Aviation, we’ve been fortunate enough in our district to enjoy nearly five decades of C-130 support from Air Station Sacramento and Air Station San Francisco before that,” said Capt. Matthew Gimple, the 11th Coast Guard District chief of staff.
Air Station Sacramento is the first operational unit in the service to integrate new Spartan aircrafts, which are the latest addition to the Coast Guard’s fleet of fixed-wing multi-mission aircraft.
“C-130 crews have excelled at search and rescue, and we expect our C-27J crews to do the same for decades to come,” said Gimple. “We welcome the C-27J to the flight line and eagerly await the next chapter in Coast Guard aviation.”
The Spartan aircraft has already been assigned to operational missions. A Spartan aircrew was dispatched Thursday to search for a vessel left adrift following a search and rescue case that happened Wednesday. More information about Thursday’s Spartan mission can be found at http://ift.tt/29dTmUJ
