Air Station Clearwater also operates two aviation facilities in The Bahamas, one at Great Inagua and the other at the United States Navy's Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) installation at Andros Island.

Later that same year another Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation was awarded to AIRSTA Clearwater for its role in Operation Wagon Wheel, an international drug interdiction effort.

CGAS Clearwater became the Coast Guard's largest air station in 1987 with the expansion of the drug interdiction mission, Operation Bahamas, Turks, and Caicos (OPBAT).

This large ongoing mission resulted in the eventual assignment of twelve HH-60J Jayhawk helicopters, then the newest in the Coast Guard fleet, and boosted personnel strength to over 500 men and women.

In 1991, the station's HC-130s responded rapidly to fly personnel and supplies in and out of the Southwest Asia combat theater in support of Operation Desert Storm.

When south Florida and Louisiana were devastated by Hurricane Andrew the same year, CGAS Clearwater crews flew missions round the clock, transporting hundreds of tons of badly needed supplies.

These operations were aimed at stemming the flow of illegal drugs and migrants and spanned from the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean to the southern coastline of Texas.

The aircraft is an ideal platform for long range Search and Rescue, with over 14 hours of airborne endurance and large scanner windows for observers built into the airframe sides.

Air Station Clearwater helicopter aircrews fly an average of over 400 Search and Rescue cases each year along both the east and west coasts of Florida, the Bahamas, and beyond.

AIRSTA Clearwater is a tenant military activity / long-term leased facility comprising several acres in the northwest quadrant of St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.