Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak crews opened their forward operating location in Kotzebue, according to a Coast Guard press release this morning.
Forward operating locations such as the one in Kotzebue allow the Coast Guard to reduce their response time to Alaska’s northwestern coast. Helicopters and equipment are transferred up in Summer months.
This year, the forward operating location will support Arctic Shield 2021, which is the deployment of Coast Guard assets to protect the maritime community on the Arctic coast.