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By Staff Sgt. Eric Burks
Team McChord Airmen assigned to the Expeditionary Airlift
Squadron (EAS) in support of Operation Deep Freeze (ODF)
has completed four operational C-17 Globemaster III airdrops
to the Antarctic Gamburtsev Mountain Province since last
month.
Thirty bundles of fuel and other supplies were first
delivered to a scientific camp Nov. 26 in the province,
one of the most remote locations on Earth.
Capt. Joe O’Rourke, a 7th Airlift Squadron pilot
deployed to ODF, helped develop the AGAP missions. He
said the airdrop was a quick and efficient way to deliver
resources to the camp, better than any other platform
available.
More information
Original Air Force press release includes three videos
of the airdrop. Scroll to the bottom of the article.“Without
our delivery of that fuel, these scientists who are trekking
out to the AGAP campsite from the South Pole would have
had to carry that fuel with them, or a second trip would
have been necessary from McMurdo Station over land carrying
literally thousands of gallons of fuel,” he said.
In just three hours, the captain said, Airmen delivered
what would take days or weeks to accomplish through any
other means.
“The C-17 has revolutionized Antarctic logistics
and this is another example of how we’ve leveraged
our strategic airlift capability to support the National
Science Foundation’s tactical requirement,”
said Lt. Col. Jim McGann, EAS commander.
“Airdropping the fuel enables critical global climate
research to continue in remote locations. … And support
like this, even in the most hostile environment on the
planet, is what Team McChord does best.”
The mission was flown as part of Operation Deep Freeze,
which is commanded by U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint
Task Force Support Forces Antarctica. Headquartered at
Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, and led by 13th Air Force,
JTF SFA’s mission is to provide air and sealift support
to the National Science Foundation’s U.S. Antarctic
Program .
A total of four airdrops have now delivered supplies
to the scientific campsite on the north side of the Gamburtsev
province, a chain of mountains the size of the European
Alps buried under five kilometers of ice. Scientists believe
that the Gamburtsev Mountains are the point of origin
of the East Antarctic ice sheet and may be home to some
of the oldest ice on the continent.
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