Academy grads support Antarctica mission

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U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Active-duty and Reserve Airmen from the 62nd and 446th Airlift wings at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., spent a few days at McMurdo Station in Antarctica and related their experiences to the Defense Department's "Armed with Science" blog recently.

Among the officers who traveled to McMurdo Station were Capt. Jon Waller, an Air Force Academy graduate and C-17 Globemaster III instructor pilot with the 62nd AW, and Capt. Chris Stephens, a 2001 Academy graduate and C-17 weapons officer.

"(We spend) the majority of the year flying into the Middle East," said Captain Waller, who is on his second season flying for Operation Deep Freeze. "Flying into combat is pretty cool, and landing on dirt runways is pretty cool, but landing out here on the ice definitely takes the cake."

Captain Waller described night missions as "amazing." Infrared illumination markers mark the runway for the aircrew.

"It really opens up our capabilities to fly year-round and fly 24 hours a day," he said. "And operations on the ice with (night vision goggles) are not all that much different from what we're used to."

The key difference might be in the length of the day: the sun stays above the horizon 24 hours a day during Antarctica's summer and disappears for months at a time during the Antarctic winter.

Two other officers, Maj. Bruce Cohn and Capt. Chris Stephens, have also flown support missions.

"Usually, C-17 pilots never get to leave the airfield (at McMurdo Station)," wrote Major Cohn, another C-17 instructor pilot for the 62nd AW. "We fly down from Christchurch, New Zealand, land on the ice runway, offload cargo and depart."

However, a two-day visit to the station allowed the major to learn more about the base, which is principally operated by the National Science Foundation.

"What appears ... as individual station functions is actually an eccentric mix of people working together to make science happen," he wrote. "The research that's done here spans the gambit from marine biology to climate research and vulcanology. After two days of near-perpetual sunlight, breathtaking views and a crash course on McMurdo, I've barely scratched the surface of what happens in Antarctica, but it's 48 hours I will never forget."

Captain Stephens, a weapons and tactics flight commander with the 62nd AW, wrote about McMurdo Station's weather team, which found a way to improve its operations with a can-do attitude.

"When I talked with the individuals in the weather office, they immediately asked how they could make their product better," Captain Stephens wrote. "As we discussed my concern, they produced all the answers and had all the appropriate products but simply did not realize that we desired that specific information.

"The process improved," he continued. "McMurdo Station is definitely a shining light in the world of interagency operations, and its people here are setting a great example."

For more on Operation Deep Freeze, visit http://science.dodlive.mil/.