Dublin, Ireland – August 2026 – ASG is proud to mark the successful completion of its 16th full Search & Rescue Aviation Tasking & Co-ordination (SATAC) training course for the Irish Coast Guard, continuing a long-standing training partnership supporting one of Ireland’s most important emergency services.
The intensive programme was delivered over two weeks at Irish Coast Guard Headquarters and the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Dublin, Department of Transport, providing participants with specialist aviation knowledge directly relevant to the tasking and coordination of aircraft during Search & Rescue operations.
Across 16 full initial courses, together with the annual recurrent and refresher training programme delivered by ASG, hundreds of Irish Coast Guard personnel have now undertaken specialist aviation training with ASG.
For ASG, the relationship represents much more than the delivery of individual training courses. We are enormously proud to have become a trusted training partner of choice for the Irish Coast Guard, supporting personnel involved in delivering a critical, life-saving public service to the people of Ireland.
Supporting a Critical National Search & Rescue Capability
Ireland has a particularly significant Search & Rescue responsibility as an island nation.
The Irish Marine Search and Rescue Region broadly corresponds with the Irish Flight Information Region, extending approximately 200 miles west of Ireland, 30 miles south of the coast and across the Irish Sea. The Irish Coast Guard coordinates maritime Search & Rescue throughout this extensive area through its network of Rescue Coordination Centres and operational resources.
The scale and importance of this work is considerable.
During 2025 alone, the Irish Coast Guard managed 2,793 incidents, provided critical assistance to 1,941 people, and Coast Guard helicopters conducted 933 missions, including 190 air ambulance missions supporting offshore island communities.
The Irish Coast Guard is one of the State’s principal emergency services, with responsibility for maritime Search & Rescue, maritime casualty response and pollution response.
Behind every aviation mission is a complex chain of operational decision-making. Personnel tasked with coordinating SAR aircraft must be able to understand and evaluate factors including weather, aircraft capability, fuel, flight planning, operational limitations, risk, crew considerations and mission priorities — often under significant time pressure.
It is this operational requirement that sits at the heart of ASG’s SATAC programme.
An Intensive Two-Week Aviation Programme
The full initial SATAC programme is deliberately comprehensive.
Delivered intensively over two weeks, the course provides Irish Coast Guard personnel with the aviation knowledge and operational understanding required to support safe and effective aircraft tasking and coordination.
Training encompasses subjects including:
- Operational Risk Management
- Meteorology
- Navigation and map reading
- Principles of Flight
- Aircraft performance
- Mass and Balance
- Flight Planning
- Air Law
- Aviation Communications
- Operational Procedures
- Human Factors
- Crew Resource Management
- Fatigue Risk Management
- Search & Rescue Operations
- Flight Time Limitations
- Practical aviation decision-making in the SAR environment
The objective is not simply to teach aviation theory.
Every element of the programme is contextualised around real operational Search & Rescue decision-making, allowing participants to understand why aviation considerations matter when an aircraft is being tasked to an emergency.
From Initial Qualification to Annual Refresher Training
ASG’s involvement with the Irish Coast Guard extends well beyond initial training.
Following completion of the full SATAC programme, ASG also provides the Coast Guard’s ongoing annual aviation refresher training, ensuring personnel can periodically refresh their knowledge, consider operational developments and maintain familiarity with key aviation principles relevant to their responsibilities.
This combination of comprehensive initial training followed by structured recurrent training has allowed the programme to develop into a sustained aviation training framework supporting Coast Guard operational capability.
The completion of this latest programme therefore marks the 16th full initial SATAC course delivered by ASG, alongside the continuing annual refresher programme.
“A Partnership We Are Exceptionally Proud Of”
Diarmuid O’Riordan, Founder of ASG, commented:
“Completing our 16th full SATAC course is a milestone that everyone at ASG is exceptionally proud of. Over the course of our partnership, hundreds of Coast Guard personnel have now completed initial or recurrent aviation training with our instructional team, and we remain responsible for delivering the annual aviation refresher programme.”
He continued:
“The Irish Coast Guard performs an extraordinary public service. Ireland is an island nation with an enormous maritime Search & Rescue responsibility, and the people coordinating these missions can be making decisions which ultimately contribute to saving lives.”
“That makes this training very different from simply delivering an academic aviation course. When we teach meteorology, aircraft performance, fuel planning, human factors, operational risk management or flight planning, there is an immediate operational relevance. The knowledge may later inform a decision involving an aircraft and crew responding to someone in genuine distress.”
O’Riordan added:
“We are extremely proud that ASG has become a trusted training partner of choice for this critical service to the people of Ireland. The confidence placed in our team over so many years and now across 16 full initial courses, together with the annual refresher programme, is something we never take for granted.”
“For our instructors, there are few training programmes more rewarding to deliver. Knowing that our expertise can make even a small contribution to supporting the men and women responsible for coordinating Ireland’s Search & Rescue response gives this programme a very special significance for ASG.”
Training at the Heart of Irish Coast Guard Operations
Delivering the programme at Irish Coast Guard Headquarters and MRCC Dublin also provides an important operational context.
MRCC Dublin forms part of the national coordination infrastructure through which Ireland manages maritime Search & Rescue incidents, together with the coordination centres at Malin and Valentia.
This allows aviation training to be delivered in the environment in which participants ultimately apply their knowledge.
ASG’s instructional approach draws heavily upon the operational experience of its specialist aviation instructors, ensuring subjects are taught not merely as theoretical concepts but through practical examples, operational scenarios and real-world decision-making.
A Long-Term Partnership Built on Specialist Expertise
Since ASG first began working with the Irish Coast Guard, the programme has evolved into one of the organisation’s most enduring specialist aviation training partnerships.
What began as a bespoke requirement for specialist aviation tasking knowledge has developed into a comprehensive programme incorporating:
16 full initial SATAC courses, training for hundreds of personnel, and recurring annual refresher training.
That continuity allows ASG to continually refine training material, incorporate lessons and developments from operational aviation, and ensure that the programme remains relevant to the evolving Search & Rescue environment.
It also reflects a central principle of ASG’s wider approach to aviation training: complex theoretical knowledge should always be connected to real operational application.
Supporting Those Who Help Save Lives
Search & Rescue operations can involve aircraft, vessels, volunteer Coast Guard Units, lifeboats and multiple emergency agencies operating together in challenging conditions.
The Irish Coast Guard’s aviation capability has also entered a significant new era, with AW189 helicopters and a dedicated fixed-wing capability strengthening the national SAR and maritime response system.
The effectiveness of these resources depends not only upon the aircraft and crews operating them, but also upon the trained personnel responsible for receiving information, assessing situations and coordinating the appropriate response.
That is why specialist aviation knowledge matters.
As the participants on ASG’s 16th full SATAC course complete their intensive two-week programme at MRCC Dublin, we congratulate them on their achievement and thank them for their commitment throughout the training.
We also extend our sincere thanks to the Irish Coast Guard and Department of Transport for their continued trust in ASG.
For everyone involved at ASG, supporting the professional development of those responsible for coordinating life-saving Search & Rescue activity remains both a privilege and a responsibility.
We are immensely proud of this partnership and look forward to continuing to support the Irish Coast Guard for many years to come.
What is SATAC Training?
Search & Rescue Aviation Tasking & Co-ordination (SATAC) training provides personnel responsible for supporting or coordinating SAR aircraft operations with specialist aviation knowledge covering subjects such as meteorology, navigation, aircraft performance, flight planning, aviation law, human factors, operational risk management and Search & Rescue procedures.
ASG provides both the comprehensive two-week initial SATAC programme and ongoing annual aviation refresher training for Irish Coast Guard personnel.
About ASG
ASG is an EASA Approved Training Organisation regulated by the Irish Aviation Authority, providing professional aviation training to individuals, airlines, government bodies, emergency services and aviation organisations in Ireland and internationally.
In addition to its industry-leading EASA ATPL Theory programme, ASG provides bespoke specialist training in areas including Search & Rescue Aviation Tasking & Co-ordination, Flight Operations & Dispatch, operational aviation training and capability development.
ASG’s instructional team comprises experienced aviation professionals and subject-matter experts who combine technical knowledge with practical operational experience.
