Repeat After Me: Brrrrrrr......
A McChord Air Force Base, Wash., jet recently touched down on a
sheet of sea ice at McMurdo Station as part of Operation Deep
Freeze.
The C-17 Globemaster III, loaded with National Science
Foundation staff members, supplies and equipment along with members
of the 62nd and 446th Airlift Wings, landed on the ice runway as
part of the joint mission the Air Force has participated in
annually since 1957.
The flight is the first of eight C-17 missions this month in
support of Deep Freeze, which runs through November and into
December before the ice runways become unstable due to ice breakup,
mission experts said.
"The Antarctic is a spectacular and unforgiving environment,"
said Lt. Col. Jim McGann, 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron
commander who is deployed from the 62nd Operations Group. "It
provides a tremendous challenge for our people and our aircraft,
but it is also the experience of a lifetime and a whole lot of
fun."
The operation, currently in its 50th season, provides logistical
support for NSF research facilities located throughout Antarctica
where the average temperature barely reaches the freezing
point.
The extreme weather challenges every aircrew member. Airmen must
remain alert, monitoring the condition of the aircraft and weather
to ensure a safe flight, said Staff Sgt. Ronald Broughton, deployed
from the 62nd Maintenance Squadron.
This includes monitoring how far the aircraft sinks into the ice
runway. Airmen must ensure the runway doesn't become overstressed
and possibly crack -- a hazard aircrews don't have to consider at
any other location, he said.
C-17 support for Deep Freeze is measured in seasons consisting
of three phases, which run from August to March. During the first
phase, called "Winfly," Airmen and equipment are sent in August to
prepare the ice runway.
The majority of people and supplies are then flown between New
Zealand and Antarctica during the main season, which runs from now
through December. The season concludes in March with the
redeployment phase as scientists and staff are shuttled off the ice
before Antarctica's winter weather closes the runway.
"It's definitely not the same old (flight)," said Capt. Phil
Poeppelman, a pilot from the 8th Airlift Squadron. "We're used to
having references like trees and houses as we're flying along, but
down there it's just flat ice." [ANN Salutes 1st Lt. Erika Yepsen,
62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs]