General Discussion

In an effort to keep the C-130 searching for the missing service member, the regional Coast Guard command in San Diego scrambled to find two available C-27s that could fly the detained people to Texas, which freed up the C-130 to continue searching for the missing guardsman after about an hour, the two U.S. officials and the Coast Guard official said.

The search ultimately went on for 190 hours covering 19,000 square miles, but the guardsman was never found. It’s not clear that Noem’s directive to pull the C-130 had any impact on the search, particularly given the Coast Guard found alternative aircraft that allowed it to return to the effort.