VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH LCDR LEARY
Discussed is an unusual rescue by a HH-65C Dolphin helicopter done a few years ago, which happened to be the highest altitude rescue ever performed by the Coast Guard in the Washington State region: the impact of having the newly re-engined helicopter on USCG ability to provide for public safety and security is also underscored.

The impact of modernization on operations could not be clearer than in this case of rescuing a sailor at sea. Not only did the new mission systems and C4ISR assets play a central role in allowing the USCG professionals to save this man’s life, it would have been unlikely that either the effort or the joint team communication involved in the effort would have been possible. Here the redundancy of the new mission systems allowed the crew to operate in extremely challenging conditions.

Distributed operations are mostly outlying bases and living with the people out in their village and their township. One of the advantages of the airplane is the fact that it allows us to land literally at dozens of these places in a single day, move mail, food, water, and in some cases, building equipment.