Courtesy Photo | An LC-130 Hercules from the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing takes off...... read more read more
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By Thomas G. Kistler
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- This winter has been one of the warmest in history. In many parts of the country, skiers are crying and snowboarders are bummed. But there's an organization in upstate New York that looks for winter and finds it all year long.
The 109th Airlift Wing, based at Stratton Air National Guard Base in Scotia, New York, flies the only ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules aircraft in the U.S. military. Their mission is to provide open field airlift support to the National Science Foundation scientific research missions in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
According to the wing history, the unit began flying LC-130s in 1975 after being tasked with delivering critical supplies to the radar sites guarding our northern border with the Distant Early Warning System in Greenland on the polar ice cap. While that mission ended in December 1989 with the end of the DEW Line mission, operational science support and training continue today on the Greenland ice cap.
In the meantime, the wing began augmenting the Navy's South Pole mission, starting in 1988, and flew with the Navy for the next eight years. In 1998, the 109th assumed full responsibility for supporting the U.S. Antarctic program.
Today, the 109th flies about 400 missions every season between October and February, according to Lt. Col. Jody Ankabrandt, wing public affairs officer. These months of southern hemisphere summer feature 24-hour sunlight and are the only times the temperature is warm enough to operate the LC-130. A normal year moves about 12 million pounds of cargo. As personnel, fuel and other supplies arrive at McMurdo Station on C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, the 109th's LC-130s ferry scientists, their gear and provisions to remote outposts on the frozen continent.
This mission takes advantage of the unique experience levels in the Air National Guard. Most aircrew on South Pole missions have years of polar experience. It's not unusual for pilots to have flown the routes for more than 10 years and co-pilots regularly sit in the right-hand seat for at least three seasons before assuming command. Maintenance personnel have been working on the same aircraft for years and know the "personalities" of their skibirds, history shows.
Experience is necessary according the 109th AW Commander, Col. Timothy LaBarge. "There is a completely different way of flying the airplane in a polar environment," he said. "And you can't just take anybody and stick them up there and say, 'Go and do that mission.'"
One of their biggest missions was transporting the equipment, supplies and building materials to construct the current South Pole facilities, called South Pole Station. Ankabrandt provided facts that show construction took 12 years and required 925 flights by the ski-equipped LC-130s carrying approximately 26,000 pounds per flight totaling 24 million pounds of cargo.
The wing is also famous for evacuating Dr. Jerri Nielsen from the South Pole to New Zealand in 1999. Nielsen was the South Pole station's physician who discovered she had breast cancer and needed treatment unavailable at the South Pole. Braving sub-zero temperatures and flying several weeks before the normal flying season, a 109th LC-130 made a daring landing, earlier than ever before, to pick up Nielsen and take her back for treatment.
More recently, Pacific Air Forces Command news reported the Air Force called upon the 109th AW to evacuate seven severely-burned fishermen after the crew compartment on their boat caught fire. After being transported to McMurdo Station by another fishing boat, the 109th aircrew picked up the injured men and flew them on a 2,300-mile, eight-and-a-half hour flight to New Zealand where they could receive medical treatment.
The polar missions are not the only duties the 109th carries out. The wing also owns standard C-130s. The wing history reports the wing supported operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Provide Support. Following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the airlift wing carried civil engineers and critical personnel to "Ground Zero" in New York City within the first 24 hours. The wing continues to provide volunteers who deploy in support of military operations in Southwest Asia and around the world.
| Date Taken: | 02.23.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.23.2012 09:49 |
| Story ID: | 84231 |
| Location: | SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, IL, US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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