TRAVERSE CITY -- U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Traverse City is helping out with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill clean-up efforts.

The Air Station deployed one HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter and aircrew Tuesday to the Gulf Coast region.  The crew will provide aerial reconnaissance to assist incident management teams with tracking the spread of oil and help guide employment of surface assets.  

Traverse City’s aircrew joins thousands of Coast Guardsmen devoted to the response efforts.  Deployment of this aircraft and crew will not degrade the Coast Guard’s search and rescue or maritime safety capabilities on the Great Lakes.