USNA News Article
Naval Academy Oceanography Major Visits Antarctica
Feb 02, 2012
By Midshipman 1st Class Kierstin King
This year’s Oceanography Department Antarctica Internship, funded by the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, afforded me the opportunity to observe cutting edge research at one of the most remote environments on earth.
Along with Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Joshua Linsell, I spent 13 days at McMurdo Station, one of three permanent U.S. Antarctic bases. Located on Ross Island in the Ross Sea, McMurdo is home to over 1,000 personnel during the Antarctic Austral Summer Season (September through March).
Although military activity is prohibited in the Antarctic by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, an exception to the rule allows military ships and aircraft to support scientific research efforts. As such, the 13th Air Force-led Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica, Operation Deep Freeze, is the U.S. military’s support of the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Antarctic Program.
Operation Deep Freeze is the name given to operational and logistic support conducted by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Coast Guard since 1955. This involves coordination of strategic intertheater airlift, LC-130 field support airlift, aeromedical evacuation support, sealift through Military Sealift Command, seaport access, bulk fuel supply, port cargo handling, and transportation requirements.
Operation Deep Freeze is unlike any other U.S. military operation. It is possibly the U.S. military’s most difficult peacetime mission due to the extreme adversity of the environment. The New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing, flying ski-equipped LC-130 cargo aircraft, flies to McMurdo every October to perform the majority of vital American resupply efforts and ferry passengers around the continent. The 139th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, commanded by Air National Guard pilot Col. Mark Sakadolsky, flies the only ski-equipped C-130s in the U.S. military.
While on the continent, this airframe transported Linsell to the South Pole along with two generations of past and present Naval Academy midshipmen: Air National Guard Col. Conrad Caldwell (USNA ’87) and me.
As a future oceanography officer, I was able to experience the effects of being located on a fault line. Before stepping foot on the ice we tried to keep a steady foot on the shaking New Zealand ground. There were a series of aftershocks following the 6.3 and 7.1 magnitude Christchurch earthquakes which occurred Feb. 22, 2011. On the ice, the weather enthusiasts were able to gain a plethora of knowledge in their field of studies.
Cadet Linsell and I were present during an exciting time of research. We met with the head scientist of the Pine Island Glacier project, Bob Bindschadler, who exposed to us the importance of weather on mission capability and the purpose of his studies.
The project’s main camp is located at roughly 75’S 100’W on the polar plateau at an elevation of 2,800 feet, which is notorious for extreme weather. This is an area of interest for study because it is located near a highly crevassed ice sheet that drains into the Amundsen Sea. By an invasive hot-water drilling technique, the team accesses the cavity beneath the glacier in order to predict future behaviors of the western ice sheets.
The project was intended to kick off in November but as we discovered, the weather must cooperate for safe flying. We were finally able to get the science team to the main camp on Christmas Eve for the first time. As a result of this trip, I have an increased understanding for the direct effects that my future weather observations will have on mission capability.
With an annual budget of about $6 billion, the National Science Foundation is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. The foundation graciously invites one Naval Academy midshipman and Air Force Academy cadet a year.
The support that the DoD provides to the United States Antarctic Program and Operation Deep Freeze would not be possible without the initiation from the Navy Seabees seven decades ago and the continuation of Air Force logistical operations. In visiting Antarctica, Air Force cadets and Navy midshipmen stand to gain a much broader perspective in their development towards future careers as military officers. I feel so blessed to have walked on the same ground as top researchers and explorers.
