Tom Cooper, a retired commanding officer for the United States Coast Guard, is the next speaker in EAA’s Aviation Adventure Speaker Series. Tom will share stories of the life-saving missions he completed as an H-65 helicopter pilot as well as insights into the Coast Guard in his presentation at the EAA Aviation Museum on Thursday, May 16, at 7 p.m.
“I love to tell Coast Guard stories and brag about Coast Guard aviators. I think there may be a little bit of an untold story, most people don’t know a lot about the Coast Guard or specifically about Coast Guard aviation,” Tom said.
When Tom and his twin brother were looking to join the military following high school, they knew they wanted to stick together. “He had gotten into West Point, I had been accepted into the Naval Academy, but we wanted to stay together,” he explained. When they both were accepted into the Coast Guard, that was the path they took. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know that much about the Coast Guard, but once I got in, I just fell in love with it. I stayed in for 32 years,” said Tom.
Tom graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in management, and his first assignment was driving a 157-foot buoy tender in New York Harbor. From there, he was selected to go to the naval air station in Pensacola, Florida, for flight training. After earning his wings, he was assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Savannah where he started flying the H-65 Dolphin, completing daring missions of search and rescue, law enforcement and drug patrol, marine protection, and port security.
His assignments took him from Savannah, Geogia, to New Orleans, Louisiana (where he served a pivotal role in Hurricane Katrina rescue efforts), and eventually to California. “The lives that I saved, and just the look in people’s eyes. Imagine you’re a hundred miles offshore and your boat sunk, and you don’t think anyone’s going to find you. We can come along and rescue them. It’s pretty awesome,” he said.
The Coast Guard sent Tom to Johns Hopkins University where he earned two master’s degrees in technical management and systems engineering. In addition to his successful helicopter missions, Tom spent much of his career managing resources, projects, and units, including being the first and only Coast Guard officer to serve as executive officer to the deputy commander of NORTHCOM. Tom’s final assignment before retiring in 2022 was commanding officer of Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco, and his unit was named the top unit in rescues and law enforcement.
“I think so highly of the men and women of the Coast Guard… risking their lives, taking on high-risk missions,” he said. “The Coast Guard has such a long, great history of naval aviators. I’ll touch on the history of Coast Guard aviation as well as general missions and aircraft we have, the locations, and a little about my career.”
Thursday’s presentation is free for EAA members and youths, and just $5 for nonmembers.
If you’re unable to attend, all Aviation Adventure Speaker Series presentations are recorded and will be available to members to watch here at a later date.