Today, the ‘hidden gem’ I’m writing about is the Coast Guard Air Station at Naval Base Ventura County. Like the other ‘gems’ I’m writing about, this Coast Guard Air Station is a community asset that has value to us. It is evidence of economic, geographic, and cultural strengths of the region.

I was reminded about this ‘hidden gem’ yesterday morning as I drove to Fathomwerx (at the Port of Hueneme). The local NPR station was running a story about the recent dedication of a new Coast Guard Air Station at Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC). This is the first new Coast Guard Air Station to be established by the Coast Guard in the last twenty-five years!

Years ago, I had heard that a Coast Guard Air Station had been relocated here from LAX for some reason, and that the Coast Guard was operating it as a temporary Forward Operating Base. We neighbors saw evidence of the station when one of its orange helicopters cut across the county airspace above Camarillo, or when we were at the beach and saw one cruising down the coastline offshore. LA’s loss is Ventura County’s gain!

Their new base here has hangers that supports a squadron of four MH-60T helicopters that will serve 350 miles of California coast from Dana Point to Morro Bay. (These are beefier than the MH-65E Dolphins I think I’ve seen flying around here.) The base also brings jobs to the County. These include the uniformed Coast Guard guardsmen, the base employs civilian support staff, and the contractors that are brought in to support the Air Station’s operation.

You can bet that the Coast Guard chose to locate this air station here at our NBVC because NBVC can provide world class support to its tenants. And because the NBVC community understands air operations in a marine environment.

And that’s a nice segue to the nexy ‘hidden gem’ I’ll write about: Naval Base Ventura County. Stay tuned for that one. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions about Coast Guard Air Station Ventura. Use the comments or message me directly.

Meanwhile, do you know something about Coast Guard Air Station Ventura County that people might like to know about? If so, share it in the comments.

#ventura-county #santa-barbara-county #san-luis-obispo-county #economicdevelopment #didyouknow