Always Ready

A check-in with the Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City

By Ross Boissoneau | June 28, 2025

The Coast Guard is perhaps the least well-known branch of the United States military. Some people don’t even know it’s part of the armed services.

“Not everybody knows the Coast Guard is a military organization,” says Commander Ryan Hawn, the base commander in Traverse City. “It’s an important distinction.”

The only military branch within the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard enforces federal laws, conducts search and rescue, and protects the nation’s maritime borders and waterways. As a military service, it can be placed under the command of the Department of Defense during wartime, though it typically operates under DHS during peacetime.

The Coast Guard has actually been around almost as long as the United States. It traces its origins back to 1790, with the establishment of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, when Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton proposed establishing a revenue marine service. The U.S. Revenue Cutter Service was the nation’s only sea service in the early years of the new republic. In 1915, Congress consolidated a number of maritime agencies, including the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, the U.S. Life Saving Service, and others, to create the modern U.S. Coast Guard.

It was only 30 years later that Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City was commissioned. Originally established as a one-plane detachment to provide search and rescue service to the Great Lakes, over the years the station has grown to 110 active-duty personnel, supported by four civilians. In addition to the personnel, it is home to two Jayhawk helicopters, the Coast Guard equivalent of the more familiar Army Black Hawks.

While the base has been a part of Traverse City so long that many may take the Coast Guard’s presence for granted, it’s actually a rarity. Traverse City is one of only two designated Coast Guard Cities in Michigan; Grand Haven is the other. (There are other Coast Guard stations throughout the state.)

Given that, our base’s service area is vast. It extends from the western tip of Lake Superior to the Canadian border to the southern part of Lake Michigan across to Lake Huron.

No Such Thing As an Average Day

As it says on the Coast Guard website, there’s no such thing as an average day in the Coast Guard.

Commander Hawn says a typical day could include everything from missions to practice to simply cleaning the facility to keep it at the ready when there’s an emergency: “Always Ready” is the Coast Guard’s motto.

“I’m also a pilot, so I fly one or two times a week, stand some duty, do search and rescue, or some law enforcement. We service the entire region,” he says. And in keeping with that motto, “We make sure the folks are ready.”

Hawn has been on duty here since last July, and says he’s learned a lot in the year since moving to Traverse City. “Like drinking from a firehose,” he says with a laugh. “I love being up here. It’s an amazing place. We came from Alaska, and [it’s like] Alaska light.”

Lieutenant Junior Grade Nicholas “Cole” Betts is the public and external affairs officer for the Traverse City base. At just 24, he’s one of the youngest personnel on the base, which he says ranges from those who enlisted right out of high school to those who have been part of the Coast Guard for 20-plus years. This is his first posting, and he’s been in Traverse City just three months.

The native of Houston joined up after friends of his were rescued by the Coast Guard. “I always knew I wanted to fly. In 2017, I was a junior in high school when Hurricane Harvey came through. Several friends of mine were rescued from their roofs by the Coast Guard,” he says.

That struck a nerve. He realized he could use his passion for flying—he was already studying to be a pilot—in service to others. He applied to the Coast Guard Academy in New Haven, Connecticut, was accepted and graduated in 2023. While he is a designated naval aviator, he’s not yet qualified to fly the Jayhawks on base. Sometime later this year, he will be sent to Mobile, Alabama, to become qualified, then return to Traverse City. “I’ll be here the next four years,” he says.

Some Things Change, Others Stay the Same

While their mission remains the same, big changes have come to the Coast Guard in the last decade. Advances in technology have enabled the personnel to do some tasks more easily than they used to. As one example, Hawn points to the increasing use and utility of unmanned aerial systems—drones, in common parlance.

“Locally we’re looking to employ unmanned systems,” he says. Using drones is quicker, easier and requires less personnel to do relatively simple tasks such as inspecting buoys or determining where the ice is building up. “We’re in the beginning stages of that.”

But the bread and butter of the Coast Guard’s efforts remains search and rescue. Whether in summer, fall, or winter, many of those operations have one thing in common. “They tend to involve bad weather and they need an aircraft,” says Hawn.

Hawn and the other 12 pilots on base have all been trained to fly in inclement or hazardous weather. He says that the training for those missions is no walk in the park, nor is hoisting people out of the lake in a storm. (Definitely don’t try this at home.)

“Last year we did 74 search and rescue missions, most of them in the summer. Summer is always busier,” Hawn says.

Through it all, Hawn says one thing remains true for all its missions and all its personnel. “We’re honored to be able to serve the public. We’re glad we can make a difference.”

Shifting Recruitment

Though the Coast Guard offers specialized training in fields like law enforcement, environmental science, engineering, and healthcare, Hawn admits recruiting hasn’t been easy lately.

Even though the Coast Guard offers what it calls competitive salary and tuition assistance through the GI Bill, plus training and professional certifications and the chance for travel, the number of people enlisting has dropped across all the armed services over the past several years. “We’ve had recruiting issues,” admits Hawn.

However, he says recent efforts have been paying off. In fiscal year 2024, the Coast Guard recruited 4,442 active-duty enlisted personnel and 737 reservists. That exceeded its respective goals of 4,200 and 725, the first time in six years that the Coast Guard met its recruiting targets.

That trend has increased the numbers locally as well. “A few years ago, we had 13 or 14 straight out of boot camp. The last two years we had none. Now we’re seeing that come up again.” That said, Hawn echoes what retailers, restaurateurs, and other employers have said for the last several years: “We’re always looking for people.”