U.S. Airmen with the 139th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, New York Air National Guard, load passengers onto an LC-130 “Skibird” headed to the South Pole, Nov. 9, 2017. The Airmen are from the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing in Scotia, N.Y and are deployed to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze (ODF), the logistical support provided by the Department of Defense to the U.S. Antarctic Program. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Catharine Schmidt)