GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Master Sgt. Cliff Devoe, left, and Tech Sgt. Joe Archambeaulf prepare to leave Hickam Air Force Base last week after an one-day layover on their way to Antarctica and the start of Operation Deep Freeze.
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Polar aviators see warming’s impact
Rising temperatures affect when and how often the missions can be performed
New York Air National Guard LC-130 air crews who have been ferrying scientists and cargo to the top and bottom of the world for nearly two decades say they can see the effects of global warming.
"There is definitely a noticeable change in the temperatures," said Master Sgt. Cliff Devoe, who has been flying to Antarctica and Greenland for 17 years.
The supply missions in Greenland now must be flown at night "because the snow softens up so much during the day," said Devoe, a LC-130 crew chief with the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Squadron.
Since 1988, the squadron has provided the air supply bridge for the National Science Foundation's study of Antarctica. That mission generally runs from October through March, which is followed by deployments to Greenland through August.
GREGG K. KAKESAKO / GKAKESAKO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Two specially equipped LC-130 cargo planes from the New York Air National Guard stopped in the islands last week for an overnight stay at Hickam Air Fore Base on their way to McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
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"We literally fly from pole to pole," said Tech. Sgt. Joe Archamnbeaulf, another LC-130 crew chief.
The first two of six specially equipped LC-130 cargo planes from the New York unit stopped in the islands last week for an overnight stay at Hickam Air Fore Base on their way to McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The cargo plans are equipped with skis so they can land on ice and snow fields.
The cargo planes and air crews are part of Hickam's 13th Air Force Joint Task Force Operation Deep Freeze led by Lt. Gen. Loyd "Chip" Utterback.
Utterback met with the air crews on Hickam's flight line before they left carrying a spare engine in one plane and a four-blade propellor in the other.
"This mission has tremendous impact on the way we live today and the way we will live tomorrow," Utterback said, citing the research in global warming as one area.
Devoe said that since 1991 there have been noticeable changes in the temperature at Antarctica.
"In 1991 and 1992 it was about 20 to 30 degrees below zero at this time of the year," he said. "Now the temperature ranges from zero to 20 degrees."
The last mission, which ended in March, resulted in 466 flights flown in Antarctica -- a record for the Deep Freeze operation. This included the most flights over the South Pole, 337.
Other records set included moving 12.2 million pounds of cargo to and from the South Pole
Utterback said the record number of cargo and passengers transported came about because of "good weather, good healthy airplanes" and reorganizing the way the Air Force conducted its resupply missions.
Utterback said he expects to visit in January some of the 25 stations involved in Operation Deep Freeze that are scattered over a continent larger than the United States.
All of the Antarctic support missions have to be flown between August and February -- summer in Antarctica -- and ends when the mercury dips to minus 50 degrees. It is considered by the military as its most demanding peacetime mission because of the extreme adversity of the environment and the remoteness of Antarctica.
"It's a challenge," Utterback acknowledged, "not only because of the distance and the range of temperatures, it is also defined by the weather, the cold, the sun and the darkness ... it's a dangerous mission."
The New York Air National Guard unit flew its first Antarctic mission in January 1988. It was controlled by the Navy until 1998, when the 109th assumed full control of the mission.
The LC-130 aircraft provide the air link between Christchurch, New Zealand, and Ross Island, 2,500 miles south, as well as to the 25 outposts throughout the South Pole region.