Navy Misawa Snow Team commemorates 30 years of participating in Sapporo Snow Festival

Courtesy Photo | Members of the Navy Misawa Snow Team remove a large chuck of snow and ice from a 6-foot-by-6-foot block of snow. Six sailors from Naval Air Facility Misawa, and its tenant and deployed commands, are creating a snow sculpture on behalf of the base for the 64th Annual Sapporo Snow Festival on northern Japan’s Hokkaido Island. This is the 30th year that the naval installation has sent a delegation of sailors to take part in the city's festival. The team intends to create a scaled-down replica of USS George Washington's forecastle out of snow and ice. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Builder Billy Knox)  

SAPPORO, HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

01.30.2013

Story by Senior Chief Petty Officer Daniel Sanford 

Naval Air Facility Misawa

NAVAL AIR FACILITY MISAWA, Japan – A delegation of sailors from U.S. Naval Air Facility Misawa arrived in Sapporo, Japan, this week and began work on the base’s annual snow sculpture, Jan. 30, 2013, for the 64th Annual Sapporo Snow Festival.

This year is the 30th anniversary that NAF Misawa and its tenant and deployed commands sent a unified team to Japan’s Hokkaido Island to participate in the festival.

The team, comprised of six sailors from five separate commands, is attempting to sculpt the forecastle of USS George Washington (CVN 73) from a 6-foot-by-6-foot block of snow. With the festival kicking off Feb. 5, they acknowledge that it will take teamwork and perseverance to complete the sculpture amidst Sapporo’s bitter, winter weather.

“We knew coming in here that the weather always plays a large part in how we coordinate our sculpting efforts,” said Navy Misawa Snow Team Leader Chief Builder Christopher “Billy” Knox, who is making his third, consecutive trip to Sapporo as team lead. “But as sailors, we’re used to acclimating to change and overcoming new challenges, so working on a deadline in tough conditions is nothing new to us.”

But what is new to the team, playfully nicknamed “Task Force Snowflake,” is working with aircraft carriers – even if it is just made of snow. None of the snow team members have ever been stationed on a carrier before. In fact, as Knox was working atop a block of snow that was slated to become the ship’s flight deck, he jokingly said it was the first time he’d ever been aboard an aircraft carrier.

“I’m a Seabee, so we don’t do much time aboard ships,” said Knox, a native of Chapin, Ill. “But as a Seabee, I also don’t need to a whole lot of remedial time. We have photos of the ship at several different angles and that’s all we need to get rolling. Can do.”

And the team has seemed to embrace Knox’s can-do attitude, as within a matter of hours, the 6-foot snow cube was hacked, diced, and chiseled into the basic shape of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.

“I think we have a very good team here," said Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 2nd Class Parnell Nauta, who is currently assigned to Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Detachment Misawa. “Despite the cold, wind and snow, we are overcoming the elements, staying motivated and having fun. We have achieved all our goals for today and have the majority of the outline complete. For today, I’m pretty happy with the progress and how it looks.”

Prior to beginning work on the snow sculpture, the Misawa snow team spent the previous day making office calls with high-level city and military officials. For many of the younger team members, this was their first opportunity to interact with such prominent senior officials.

“For me, it was a very humbling experience,” said Cryptologic Technician (Collection) 2nd Class Ryan Miller, a native of Vernon, N.J., and attached to Navy Information Operations Command Misawa. “I’ve never had the opportunity to sit down with such high-level officials. It really let me see how important our relationships with the government and Japan Self-Defense Forces are.”

But in the span of a day, the team has gone from sitting in comfortable leather office chairs to sitting atop a frosty slab of snow and ice. But according to Knox, this is where the team belongs.

“Sapporo is a great city, with great people and gracious hospitality,” he said. “But for the next several days, we got work to do and a ship to build. This being the 30th year of NAF Misawa building a sculpture, we really want to give this city something to remember and to do right by the crew of a proud war ship.”

The 2013 Navy Misawa Snow Team also includes Equipment Operator 2nd Class Ismael Ponce, assigned to NAVFAC Far East Detachment Misawa, who hails from Hobbs, N.M.; Aviation Electricians Mate 3rd Class Shawn Mullen, a native of Watson, La., from Patrol Squadron 10, which is currently deployed to NAF Misawa from Naval Air Station Jacksonville; and Aviation Structural Mechanic (Safety Equipment) Airman Gabriel Neri, who is assigned to Naval Air Facility Misawa, and originally is from San Diego.

For more news from Naval Air Facility Misawa, check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nafmisawa.

• Date Taken: 01.30.2013
• Date Posted: 01.30.2013 21:21
• Story ID: 101259
• Location: SAPPORO, HOKKAIDO, JP
• Hometown: HOBBS, NM, US
• Hometown: SAN DIEGO, CA, US
• Hometown: VERNON, CAMDEN, NJ, US