How cold is it? Reservists reach south pole

  • Published
  • By Dale Hopper, FAA and Lt. Col. Rich Curry, 507th Air Refueling Wing
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Spending 18 days in a frozen tundra where subzero temperatures are common may not strike most as an ideal vacation, but for MSgt. Lori Pink and MSgt. Kirk Babcock from the 1st Aviation Standardization Flight, it proved to be a lifetime opportunity. 

These Air Force Reservists from the 507th Air Refueling Wing traveled to Antarctica to conduct airfield inspections. 

The mission of the 1st Aviation Standards Flight is to perform flight inspections of navigational-aid radar and instrument procedures at military and civilian installations in the United States and overseas. Working in tandem with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the flight operates from the Will Rogers International World Airport, Oklahoma City, and augments the Air Force Flight Standards Agency Detachment 1, the on-site active-duty unit. 

Each year roughly 11 people from the FAA travel to Antarctica to inspect the four airfields located there (including the one at the pole), making sure they are safe for use by C-130s, C-17s and helicopters ferrying supplies and thousands of scientists with the National Science Foundation. The reservists traveled as part of this year's effort. 

Getting there was the first hurdle the reservists faced. Sergeant Pink said she departed Oklahoma City on October 11. After arriving at Christchurch, New Zealand, the team is issued survival gear. After a brief delay, Sergeant Pink said the team arrived on the continent October 16. They spent 7 ½ hours packed with cargo on the flight to McMurdo. 

McMurdo Station is Antarctica's largest community. It is built on the bare volcanic rock of Hut Point Peninsula on Ross Island, the farthest south solid ground that is accessible by ship. Established in 1956, it has grown from an outpost of a few buildings to a complex logistics staging facility of more than 100 structures including a harbor, an outlying airport (Williams Field) with landing strips on sea ice and shelf ice, and a helicopter pad.
The station accommodates 1200 people in summer and 200 in winter. The station covers nearly 1.5 sq. mi. (4 sq.km.) between Hut Point and Observation Hill. There are above-ground water, sewer, telephone, and power lines linking buildings. 

"Kirk and I were both on the ice," Sergeant Pink said. "The starkness was beautiful. I was able to experience 24-hours of sunlight and see the bluest ice I've ever seen. I was amazed at how dry it was there." 

One of the airfields, appropriately called Ice Runway, is built on sea ice about 7 feet thick, said MSgt. Kirk Babcock. Babcock is an Air Force reservist as well as an FAA employee who usually works in the Battle Creek, Mich., flight inspection field office as a mission specialist. But for the last six years he has temporarily relocated to McMurdo Air Station for duty in Antarctica. This year, Babcock led the ATO flight inspection team of 11.
Ice Runway doesn't last the whole summer, Babcock said. By the end of the season it melts back into a shipping lane. 

The other airfields - Pegasus and Williams - are rebuilt on ice over land each year by the Department of Defense for the NSF. The ice - carrying navaids and control towers - moves about 30 feet during the season, said Mike Ryder, an aviation systems inspection pilot, who has done tours in Antarctica and now serves as team liaison. 

That's not a safety problem because the facilities and runways (about 10,000 feet long and 220 feet wide) keep their relative positions, he said. 

Once there, the team splits into two crews to take maximum advantage of 24 hours of sunlight. The flight inspectors check the airfields similar to the way they check U.S. Air Force bases around the world, Babcock said. ATO pilots, mission specialists and avionics technicians pack a specially prepared "ice box" into a military plane and fly different approaches. 

The 12-by-12-foot box is loaded with avionics used to adjust radar, precision approach landings, reporting points and to ultimately certify the airfield. The box is shipped by boat a month before the crews get there. The crews also use helicopters to inspect Global Positioning System procedures. With the airfields so close to the South Pole, normal compass and longitude references aren't effective, so navigation is done using a grid pattern. 

"I was there for logistics and administrative support," Sergeant Pink said. "Some of my duties were to take care of paperwork between the National Science Foundation (NSF), the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), and the FAA; coordinate Information Technology needs for the team; work with McMurdo Fixed-Wing scheduler with daily aircrew manifests and takeoff times; work the flight schedule in the FAA's Flight Operations Management System; and prepare a daily summary of mission accomplishments and flight inspection status," she said. 

Babcock said he enjoyed spending time with the scientists during his stay. 

"The ozone layer, greenhouse gases, most of the research is done down here," he said by phone during his tour. "Every night after dinner a different scientist will speak about their project. You can ask question right to the people doing the research. These are the people that write the books." 

Both reservists agree that the continent's extreme temperatures can be a problem for ATO personnel. At the pole the temperature regularly drops to 50 degrees below zero. 

"I have a new respect for early explorers who survived under the harsh conditions with so little food and appropriate shelter and clothing. I found McMurdo to be similar to a small town in that you work hard, long hours and create fun and entertainment with what you have available," Sergeant Pink said. 

But for all the adventure packed into a few weeks, Babcock said he was ready when it came time to leave the continent. 

"One of my favorite things is when we arrive in New Zealand - to smell moisture and see vegetation," he said.