News

Initial fly in to Antarctica begins

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Patrick Cabellon
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Reserve Airmen from the 446th Airlift Wing here are spinning up for the Winter Fly-ins to McMurdo Station, Antarctica in support of the U.S. Antarctic program and the National Science Foundation and in preparation of Operation Deep Freeze.

The period known as WINFLY started Aug. 18 and is scheduled to last until Aug. 29. This intial fly in will deliver advance teams and cargo for the upcoming main season of ODF.

The 97th Airlift Squadron, 313th AS and 728th AS are participating in ODF, said Lt. Col. Bill Eberhardt, 446th Operations Group. 

Colonel Eberhardt is the director of operations for the 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, Christchurch, New Zeland.

The 304th EAS is the advance team to prepare for the winter season, said Lt. Col. Robert Wellington, a deputy commander with the 62nd OG. Colonel Wellington is the commander of the 304th EAS.

A C-17 from here will deploy in support of the operation. The aircraft will transport personnel and cargo for the U.S. National Science Foundation to Christchurch. Christchurch is the starting point for forward deployment to McMurdo Station. McMurdo is a key research and operations facility for the U.S. Antarctic program.

The first C-17 shuttle will land on Antarctica Aug. 20, said Colonel Eberhardt.

Five shuttles will bring people and equipment in to begin construction of the McMurdo Ice Station annual runway, said Colonel Eberhardt.

A shuttle is a round trip from Christchurch to McMurdo Station and back to Christchurch. It takes about 12 hours to complete a shuttle mission. It is 2,000 nautical miles from Christchurch to McMurdo and takes about five hours to get there and five hours to get back to New Zealand, with a two hour maximum stop on the Ice to offload and onload cargo and personnel, said Colonel Eberhardt.

The shuttles will use the Pegasus White Ice Runway in Antarctica; about 15 miles away from McMurdo.

The annual runway, only one mile away from McMurdo Station, will be about 10,000 feet in length and be made of sea ice three meters thick. The construction of the annual runway makes it cheaper, logistically, to shuttle in cargo and personnel to McMurdo, said Colonel Eberhardt.

"(The 304th EAS) goal is to be on the ground for half an hour to offload and onload," said Chief Master Sgt. Jim Masura, C-17 standardization and evaluation loadmaster, 446th OG. Chief Masura is the operation superintendent for the 304th EAS.

The personnel who will be picked up are civilian and military personnel who stay at McMurdo Station to keep it in working order. Some of them have contracts that end during WINFLY, so they will be leaving on the missions from McMurdo back to Christchurch, said Chief Masura.

The McChord C-17s flown back and forth to McMurdo will have a mix of 446th and 62nd AW pilots and loadmasters. The C-17 will be maintained by McChord maintenance personnel forward deployed. 

Operation Deep Freeze is unlike any other U.S. military operation. It is possibly the military's most difficult peacetime mission due to the harsh Antarctic environment. The U.S. military is uniquely equipped and trained to operate in such an austere environment and has therefore provided support to U.S. Antarctic research since 1955.

Joint Task Force Support Forces Antarctica, which is comprised of Reserve, active duty, and Guard U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army and Coast Guard personnel, work together to forge a strong joint force team that continues the proud tradition of U.S. military support to the U.S. Antarctic Program. The operation is led by 13th Air Force at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. The ODF main season will begin at the end of September.

On one of the shuttles the pilots and loadmasters will be using night vision goggles to train new pilots and loadmasters in support of ODF. They will learn how to properly use them when landing on the ice, said Colonel Eberhardt.

The use of NVGs will allow for missions in the case of a midwinter emergency where aircrews may find themselves flying to McMurdo to drop off emergency supplies or conduct a medical evacuation. If the National Science Foundation wants to receive critical supplies, midwinter when it is dark for six months out of the year, the aircrew will be able to do it, said Colonel Eberhardt.

McChord first participated in ODF in 1983 using the C-141B Starlifter. The 446th AW entered the ring in 1995 while the C-141B was still in use. The first C-17 trial for use to support ODF was Oct. 15, 1999.