Photo By Staff Sgt. Benjamin German | Reporters take photographs of a New York Air National Guard 109th Airlift Wing LC-130...... read more read more
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STRATTON AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, SCOTIA, N.Y. - The 109th Airlift Wing’s support for National Science Foundation research in Greenland, which kicked off in March, continued through July, with the latest three-plane support element, carrying 75 Airmen, leaving Stratton Air National Guard base here on July 13.
The Airmen and aircraft, of the New Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing provide support for Greenland research by transporting fuel, cargo and passengers to and from the various camps throughout Greenland aboard LC-130 ski-equipped Hercules transport planes.
The LC-130s are the largest planes in the world equipped to land on snow pack.
In a typical Greenland season, the 109th AW flies between 600 and 1,000 hours, transporting up to 2.5 million pounds of cargo.
During the U.S. winter season, the 109th AW is supporting Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica, and in the summer months, the unit flies to Greenland to not only continue their support for National Science Foundation but also to ensure they are ready to supply bases across Antarctica when the long Antarctic winter ends.
The 109th deploys at various times between March and August for Greenland. Each year, about six rotations consisting of two to four aircraft and up to 80 Airmen each, go up anywhere from six to 14 days at a time depending on the needs of the NSF.
“We supply various science camps on the Ice Shelf in Greenland,” said Maj. Erik Srokowski of the Greenland Shop. “We bring in fuel and supplies to these camps and bring passengers in and out the entire season.
“One of the most important science missions we have are the transportation of Ice Cores out of the remote camps and back to the United States,” he said. “Ice Cores are a vital part of the science effort in the Arctic in analyzing the composition of Earth's atmosphere thousands of years ago.”
This year, national and international reporters had the chance to see the wing in action, as they boarded an LC-130 aircraft at the end of June at Stratton for the trip to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland - the hub of 109th AW activity.
While there, media had the chance to see aircrew, maintainers and other support personnel hard at work in Kangerlussuaq. They also got to visit Summit, one of the camps supporting researchers whose primary focus is global climate change.
“We wanted to learn about the experience of landing on a snow or ice covered runway, and how the 109th prepares for this mission,” said Christoph Kaestner, of the German magazine, “Der Flugleiter” and website, World of Aviation. “We had a really good opportunity to get all of this information. To be able to see the whole mission, including the preparation that went into it was really great. We had great opportunities to take pictures and film; it’s been a great experience all around.”
“I was really surprised to see how big Camp Summit is, and how many people are working here,” said Thomas Urbild, Editor in Chief of “World of Aviation”. “It was also great to see the operations from the 109th in Kangerlussuaq and how many people it takes to get the mission done.”
The media outlets, including ABC News and CBS News, are currently working on news pieces that will highlight the 109th AW’s mission in Greenland.
“It’s really important for the media to see firsthand how we support the National Science Foundation and all that goes into it so they can get our story out there and highlight the amazing work our Airmen are doing on the ice,” said Maj. Anthony Bucci, the 109th AW Public Affairs Officer who escorted the media on the trip.
The Greenland season will come to a close in August; however, there’s not much downtime for those supporting the mission. The Greenland planning conference is in October, around the same time Airmen and aircraft are on their way to Antarctica for Operation Deep Freeze.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.20.2015 11:09 |
| Story ID: | 170528 |
| Location: | SCOTIA, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 110 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, New York Air National Guard continues support for Greenland science missions, by CMSgt Catharine Spence, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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