Arctic

Photos: Coast Guard Base Kodiak

When crew members on a California-based U.S. Coast Guard vessel stopped at Base Kodiak last week, they wore jackets and shivered while the local team greeted them in short-sleeved uniforms.

"They were all bundled up," Lt. Cmdr. Todd Emerson said, chuckling at the memory. "They couldn't believe we were in short sleeves."

Emerson is the acting executive officer of Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, which serves as both a gateway to and guardian of the vast Arctic.

The base -- located on the island of Kodiak, some 250 miles southwest of Anchorage -- is the closest Coast Guard base to the Arctic. But close is a relative term; the base is 956 nautical miles south of Barrow, the largest and northernmost community in the U.S. Arctic.

That distance explains why Operation Arctic Shield, the program intended to boost the Coast Guard's presence in the Arctic, puts a heavy emphasis on increasing aviation coverage of the far North.

Read more: For outside crews, Coast Guard's Arctic gateway in Kodiak poses unfamiliar challenges

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