15 Fall 2025 Proceedings jobs by being able to see things from different angles.” Air Station Sitka’s aerial capabilities are particularly valuable, as the Forest Service has only one other aircraft available for aerial surveillance—a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver. This aircraft is stationed in Juneau and is shared among nine Forest Service districts, making Air Station Sitka an essential resource. I asked Inman what he thought the greatest ben- efit of the Forest Service-Coast Guard collaboration in Southeast Alaska was. “The overall mission success and execution that we can have working together is multi- plied many times versus operating independently in this area,” he said. “Between air and water, between cutters and the stations throughout Southeast [Alaska] we cover a lot of area. That collaboration only further enables us to be more successful.” After the familiarization was complete, it was time to shift gears to the primary mission of the day: cabin removal. We arrived at the landfill with the hope that we would be able to go right into cabin removal. There was one problem, though. The weather seemed to be wors- ening, with a dense cloud layer forming at 1,000 feet— the same altitude as our cabin site—slightly obscuring its visibility. What made matters worse is that there appeared to be no break in the cloud layer that we would be able to take advantage of. In other words, the mission we set out to accomplish would likely be delayed once again—possibly for good. After conducting a risk assess- ment to determine our next move, we noticed a weather window and attempted to gain visual contact with the site. Fortunately, we were able to gain visual contact and elected to take advantage of the window by executing the original plan. Order of Operations It was crucial that we stuck to the plan. We needed to take advantage of what appeared to be a short weather window, the approaching sunset, fuel constraints, and our own crew rest requirements. With a brief delay on deck at the landfill, we now only had enough fuel to conduct one operation before departing for fuel, which worked in our favor. We left one crewmember and all four of our empty cargo nets on scene to help prepare the first few loads of debris while we got just enough fuel at Ketchikan International Airport to remain within acceptable power margins. While we got fuel, our on- scene crewmember assisted the Forest Service ground team with properly rigging four separate cargo nets, each one with a 500-pound Super Sack, for the flight down to the landfill. The plan was to drop our 200-foot pendant through the 50-by-50-foot clearing in the trees to the cabin site and pick up the first load. Instead of dropping the load, we would have a ground team at the landfill unhook and rehook the cargo nets from and to the pendant. We did this so each bag could be returned to the site and prepared for pickup while the other loads were emptied. We expected about seven loads, so we did this process for the first three loads, dropping empty cargo nets each time and grabbing full cargo nets for unloading at the landfill. Inman, still in the aircraft, was an excellent asset communicating directly with both ground parties and providing updates that streamlined progress on both ends. By the time we were ready for the fifth load, the three cargo nets we had dropped off first were properly rigged and ready to be sling-loaded. With all the effi- ciencies created with forethought and proper planning, what was expected to be a three-hour operation only took two hours. We landed at the landfill after our final cargo net was emptied, dropped off Inman, gathered our sling-load gear, returned to the site to hoist up our crewmember, departed for Ketchikan International for dinner, and had enough gas to get home. After three separate sorties and a total of seven-and-a-half hours of flight, we arrived back home. Post-Flight Debrief What began as a simple cabin removal request from a federal partner agency evolved into a successful inter- agency mission with multiple achievements. Each agency initially had a distinct objective, but given the opera- tional challenges in Southeast Alaska—along with the complexities of coordinating aircraft maintenance sched- ules and finding common availability—we were able to efficiently consolidate several missions into one opera- tion. Specifically regarding the cabin removal, Inman said, “I think overall, the operation went as smooth as it possibly could have, logistically, weather-wise, and communication-wise.” As always, we assess areas for improvement to enhance future efforts, but it is equally valuable for an agency to leverage training to successfully carry out an event or operation that might occur only once. This joint operation between the Forest Service and Air Station Sitka showcased the enhanced capabilities achieved through effective interagency collaboration. It may have been the first of its kind, but for the betterment of Southeast Alaska and our federal, state, and local service, it will not be the last. About the author: LT Jordan Fonville was born in Clinton, Maryland, and graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 2018. He received his Wings of Gold in 2021 and serves at Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Alaska. He and his wife have three children.
