An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew based out of Air Station Kodiak and
deployed aboard Cutter Alex Haley, prepares for a helicopter in-flight refueling at sea evolution with the cutter crew during a search and rescue case near Dutch Harbor, Alaska, Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020. The crew hoisted an injured fisherman from the vessel Magnus Martens and placed him in the care of awaiting Guardian Flight Alaska personnel for further transport to Anchorage. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Benjamin DeGroot)
Below is a District 17 news release. This marks an important step in the move to an all H-60 rotary wing fleet and it also means that ships on ALPAT will be moving to operating MH-60s rather than H-65s.
I have to wonder, since recently upgraded MH-65Es will be with us for a very long time, if perhaps we might be able to open a new Coast Guard air station in Guam or the Northern Marianas (probably Tinian where the USAF is refurbishing an air base) and perhaps in American Samoa using H-65s. (I notice, when USCGC Harriet Lane recently deployed to the Western Pacific, she apparently did so without a helicopter, which would have made the ship more effective.) Certainly, the people of these American territories would welcome the additional SAR resources. That additional Western Pacific air stations might also, at least temporarily, operate Coast Guard fixed wing aircraft would also help to counter Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
KODIAK, Alaska – The Coast Guard retired the Air Station Kodiak MH-65 Dolphin helicopter fleet during a ceremony, Tuesday.
Capt. Timothy Williams, commanding officer of Air Station Kodiak, presided over the ceremony honoring the 36 years of service the MH-65 Dolphin airframe and its crews provided to the Arctic region.
Air Station Kodiak currently has a rotary-wing fleet of six MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters. The unit will shift to a rotary-wing ship-and-shore based fleet of nine MH-60 Jayhawks in 2025.
Air Station Kodiak will be the fourth Coast Guard Air Station to transition to a single rotary wing fleet of MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters. Air Stations Borinquen, Traverse City, and New Orleans all recently completed similar transitions.
“For decades, the cutter and helicopter team were the core of the ALPAT mission,” said Cmdr. James Kenshalo, MH-65 Dolphin pilot. “Together they projected force and protection to the most extreme remote regions of our nation’s territories, operating beyond where help could reach. Countless lives have been saved because of these dedicated crews.”
Commissioned in January of 1988, the Alaksa Patrol (ALPAT) mission executed solely by MH-65 Dolphin aircrews provided Coast Guard Cutters with a reliable airborne asset during Alaska Patrols.
To read more about the Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin and MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters click the following links:
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
Chuck,It is my understanding that the first four 270 WMEC’s flight deck, does not have the strength to land the M-60’s.
That is correct meaning it applies to Harriet Lane, but it can take the H-65s and apparently H-65s are likely to be in the service longer than the 270s. The 270s to 2038 and the H-65s to 2040.
I believe that HITRON and National Capital Defense are the planned final missions for the 65’s at the end of their service life.
The USCG fleet is in a configuration that Airbus never actually produced which has complicated maintenance support and logistics. I believe that the fleet is being purposely shrunk to preserve availability of some difficult to acquire life limited components and consolidate the fleet in a handful of locations easily supported by ALC.
Most of my current information is from listening to the Flightsuit Friday podcast by the ATC Mobile wardroom.
Having only one type of helicopter in Kodiak should simplify things for them.
It is not yet clear if CGAS Kodiak has H-60s with folding tails and if they will continue to provide helicopters for cutters on Alaska Patrol.
With Harriet Lane based in Oahu, I expect they may move at least another H-65s to Barbers Point to make it easier to support Harriet Lane and perhaps the two NSCs homeported in D14. They have four H-65s at Barbers Point now, but there have been indications they intend to move Harriet Lane to a different homeport, presumably at some distance from Hawaii. If that happens, Harriet Lane will need air support. It could be fixed wing, an on-board helicopter, or a UAS like Scan Eagle UAS as they have done with the NSCs.
It does seem like the Coast Guard was looking at putting helicopters on Guam. “U.S. Coast Guard, Guam Fire Department conduct rescue hoist training in Guam” –Forces Micronesia / Sector Guam | Chuck Hill’s CG Blog (chuckhillscgblog.net)
This is old, but it does show how far we have come since 2013. A Quick Look at Guam. | Chuck Hill’s CG Blog (chuckhillscgblog.net)
CG Base Guam was established recently.
“U.S. Coast Guard formally establishes Base Guam” –CG News | Chuck Hill’s CG Blog (chuckhillscgblog.net)
Seems the DOD is putting a lot of money into Guam and nearby Tinian. US Air Force issues $409 million award for long-sought Pacific airfield (defensenews.com)
The news release does say Kodiak will have H-60s on shipboard in 2025.