Helicopters swarm the Columbia River in training exercises

Published 11:53 am Friday, January 2, 2026

The Coast Guard and Army special ops aviators team up

By JAY CORELLA

The Astorian

On Tuesday, two U.S. Army helicopters buzzed Astoria, performing training exercises with a U.S. Coast Guard cutter along the Columbia River. They could be seen and heard whirring in the air, at times hovering what seemed like only a few feet above the river from the Astoria Bridge to Pier 39 and beyond.

According to Coast Guard spokesperson Briana Carter, the helicopters — an MH-60M Black Hawk and an MH-47G Chinook — belonged to the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and the exercises conducted by the pilots were part of the Coast Guard’s Advanced Helicopter Rescue School.

Shortly after noon, the helicopter crew practiced dropping lines down to the U.S.C.G.C. Florence Finch.

The helicopters zipped about and hovered around the boat as it sailed up and down the river, practicing approaches and taking turns lowering cable lines down to a receiving crew on the cutter’s deck.

The training lasted until late in the afternoon, around 4:30 p.m., providing onlookers a chance to see the military exercises up close.

According to Coast Guard Pilot Adam Young, who joined the soldiers, the purpose was to train aviators to keep their aircraft positioned on top of a moving vessel.

“The challenge with position keeping over a boat is that both the helicopter and the boat are moving, but the relative motion (to the boat) needs to be zero,” said Young.

Because of the Chinook’s size in comparison to other helicopters, changes had to be made, Young said.

“When working with other services and different airframes, we have learned at times we need to adjust to teaching principles and adjusting methods according to those principles to suit the characteristics of a particular helicopter.”