Rear Admiral Calls Agreement "A Win-Win Situation"

The US Coast Guard and the Royal Australian Navy have entered into an agreement that will serve urgent needs in both services.

Four RAN pilots have been assigned to four USCG stations: San Diego, San Francisco, Miami and Cape Cod, MA. They will serve three to four years in open helicopter co-pilot positions. Two will fly HH-60s and two the HH-65 Dolphin and train as aircraft commanders, according to the Navy Times.

"We came up with a great deal. [The RAN] was looking to relieve a bottleneck in their program and, we, with our projected growth in aviation, have shortages projected," said Rear Adm. David Pekoske, assistant commandant for operations.

The program differs from the exchange agreements the USCG currently has with the UK and Canada, it's more of a "loaner" program as the pilots will still be paid by the RAN. This program allows the RAN to retain pilots and maintain their skills when the RAN has no open positions for them.

Plus, the USCG can fill cockpits without having to pay the additional salaries.

"From an operational perspective, we'll be giving them additional skill sets -- search and rescue, aids to navigation," Pekoske said.

"It's a win-win situation," he said.

Over the next 10 years, the USCG is planning to expand its aviation program, including the addition of at least two RU-38B Twin Condor reconnaissance planes and as many as 30 CASA-235 maritime patrol aircraft and six HC-130J aircraft.

As these new programs come online, new pilots will be required. "We need to fill cockpits. We have a projected shortage on pilots over the next six to 10 years," said Capt. Mike Moore, former chief of aviation forces.

The four RAN pilots come from the 723 Squadron based in Nowra, Australia, and are trained on the Eurocopter Squirrel and S-70B-2 Seahawk, a version of the Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk, and perform mainly logistics support work and maritime patrolling.

The first of the "loaners," Lt. Ben Wenban, 25, of Orange, New South Wales, arrived in late May in Boston for his assignment to the Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod.

"It's a beautiful area. I don't think I should have come to a nicer place in the United States," he said.

He'll be inserted into the co-pilot rotation as a full crew member after a two month training stint in Alabama on the HH-60 Jayhawk platform

"The weather here is said to be very extreme. Combining doing the operational work with the harsh conditions, I think it's going to be a good experience," Wenban said.

While in the US, Wenban will likely participate in search and rescue, homeland security, law enforcement and maritime interdiction missions, as well as some aids to navigation work, according to the Times. "I'm very excited to do search and rescue. It will be extremely challenging but rewarding at the same time," Wenban said.

As an added benefit, the new loaner program will give the Coast Guard and the RAN a chance to work together and create bonds for future cooperation.

"This is a small community; you're likely to see each other again," Pekoske said.

FMI: www.uscg.mil, www.navy.gov.au