U.S. Naval Support Force,Antarctica: Station operations,

1988-1989

L. REED, LIEUTENANT, USNR

P111)/ic Affairs OfficerU.S. Naval Support Force Antarctica

Point Hueneine, California 93043

Operating the United States of America Antarctic Programeach season is a complex job, demanding a constant supplyof material and human resources.

McMurdo Station must rely upon a system of smooth inter-departmental operations to meet its objectives. The parent U.S.military contingent, U.S. Naval Support Force Antarctica(NSFA), helps to accomplish this goal with an organizationconsisting of nine departments: administration, communica-tions, operations, supply, public works, medical, terminal op-erations, morale/welfare/recreation, and safety/training. (Seefigure 1.)

Daily functions can be the routine publishing of official in-structions and directives in the administrative department orcan involve large amounts of equipment and personnel.

One of the most essential links is the operations departmentand its Air Traffic Control Division (ATC).

The ATC division maintains the McMurdo (MAC) Center.The MAC Center is reponsible for providing en route flightfollowing for air traffic control, separation of aircraft, and searchand rescue. These services are provided by high-frequencyvoice radio for aircraft operating south of 600 S. MAC Centeris assisted by other antarctic stations in providing these ser-vices. For flights between antarctic stations and New Zealand,MAC Center coordinates with Auckland Radio. The point fortransfer of control and responsibility between MAC Center andAuckland Radio is 60 degrees south latitude.

During Operation Deep Freeze 1989, MAC Center handled3,390 LC-130 flight hours and 1,232 UH-1N helicopter flight

Figure 1. The terminal operations department of the Naval SupportForce Antarctica is responsible for the loading and unloading ofall cargo used by science and military personnel in Antartica. (Of-ficial U.S. Navy photograph.)

hours. The LC-130s carried a total of 3,496 passengers to andaround Antarctica, delivered 3,798,183 pounds of cargo, 112,530pounds of mail, 114,256 gallons of JP (jet petroleum) fuel, and173,276 gallons of DFA (diesel fuel arctic). Total pounds movedreached 6,909,207.

Communications is another major component of the supportforce. This department serves the station's technical needs byhandling incoming and outgoing message traffic, as well assatellite/radio systems communications, and personal com-munications as available, which contribute to morale.

The satellite communications system provides McMurdoStation with voice communications to the rest of the world viaa land earth satellite.

MARS is a system of radio communications which relies onvolunteer military and civilian ham radio operators and is de-signed as a back-up military communications system. As a wayof keeping operators' skills sharp in peacetime, this networkprovides "telephone" service for military and civilian partici-pants of the USAP. Phone calls originating in Antarctica are"patched" into the short-wave radio transmitter, broadcast toa receiving MARS operator in the United States, and thenpatched back into the phone system as a collect call.

Another MARS service is the "MARS gram." A MARS gramis a short letter, transmitted by ham radio from the MARSoperator at one end to the other. The recipient operator thenmails the letter through the regular postal service. This systemcuts days off the regular antarctic mail service and providespersonnel with another means for communicating home. Sevenhundred and thirteen MARS grams were sent and 573 receivedduring the 1988-1989 summer season.

More than 130,000 messages were broadcast over three cir-cuits (US-16, US-18, and US-19) which are used to pass tele-type, facsimile, weather information, and administrative trafficbetween McMurdo, Christchurch, and outlying stations andships.

A project of considerable significance to USAP's mission wasthe testing and evaluating of synthetic extreme cold weather(ECW) clothing. A wide variety of clothing, ranging from par-kas and overtrousers to goggles, and fast-assembly tents weretested. While most items yielded positive results, more exten-sive testing will be completed at the end of Operation DeepFreeze 1990.

NSFA's Terminal Operations Department began the 1988-1989 season coordinating the shipment of a 12,000-liter con-tainer of liquid helium to the South Pole in support of thecosmic microwave background Radiation project.

The department coordinates movement of all cargo and pas-sengers for the United States Antarctic Program from the UnitedStates to McMurdo Station and outlying camps and stations.In the process the department works with U.S. Air Force,Navy, and Air National Guard, Royal New Zealand Air Forceaircraft, and U.S. Coast Guard and Military Sealift Commandships. (See figure 2.)

By the end of the 1988-1989 season, Terminal Operationshad overseen the movement of more than 10,000 tons of ship-borne cargo and one and three-quarter million pounds of air-borne cargo.

NSFA also provided medical care for personnel at McMurdoStation, outlying stations and field camps. The clinic at McMurdoStation provides everything from daily medical and dental sick-call to emergency care. It also houses a four-bed medical wardand X-ray services.

The Navy winter-over hospital corpsman at Palmer Station,Chief Petty Officer Dennis Hampton, was involved in the res-

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Figure 2. A U.S. Air Force C-141 Starlifter cargo plane comes in fora landing at the ice runway at McMurdo Station. Each year the icerunway is rebuilt for the summer season. (Official U.S. Navy pho-tograph.)

cue of the Bahia Paraiso, the Argentine icebreaker which sanka mile off the coast of the station on 28 January 1989. Hamptonprovided first aid, treatment for moderate hypothermia, su-turing, and local anesthetic aid. In addition, he initiated asearch aboard the ship for medications required by elderlytourists and established a 15 bed-field hospital. Hampton helpedto set up living spaces at the station, a considerable task dueto the fact that Palmer, built for a population of 40 personnel,swelled to 317. He also assisted in meal planning for the sur-vivors and a station clean-up.

The Marble Point Air Facility, a refueling station for heli-copters supporting outlying science camps, was refueled bythe U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Sea (WGAB-11) in thefirst ship-to-shore refueling operation in the history of thecontinent.

Figure 3. Unloading cargo from the supply ship M/V Green Waveis a major task at the end of the austral summer season. The shipresupplies the station with food, equipment, and other essentialsfor the winter. (Official U.S. Navy photograph.)

NSFA's Public Works Department resupplied the MarblePoint station at the beginning of the season via motorizedtraverses of the Ross Ice Shelf which carried food, equipment,and fuel to the facility. Located approximately 60 miles fromMcMurdo Station, the facility is manned by three naval-mem-bers, an aerographer, construction mechanic, and a utilities-man. They live and work at this isolated site and outside oftheir regular occupations of weather-observation, mainte-nance, and plumbing, they share responsibilities of cooking,cleaning, and laundry.

Naval Support Force Antarctica serves as the primary sup-port system for scientific research efforts on the continent. Asan integral extension of the National Science Foundation's Di-vision of Polar Programs, this unit's mission continues to growand be shaped by ever-changing needs of a bustling sciencecommunity on the world's last continent. (See figure 3.)

U.S. Naval Support Force,Antarctica: Detachment operations,

1988-1989

L. REED, LIEUTENANT, USNR

Public Affairs OfficerU.S. Naval Support Force Antarctica

Point Huene,ne, California 93043

Naval Support Force Antarctica carries out its mission fromfour locations. During the austral summer season, the mainbody of NSFA personnel deploys to McMurdo Station. Twoother detachments provide technical and logistical support forMcMurdo, and the unit's homeport headquarters at Port Hue-neme, California, and a logistic staging area at Christchurch,

New Zealand. During the winter season, command of thesupport force in McMurdo is turned over to a detachmentofficer-in-charge. This action formally establishes the fourthlocation, Detachment McMurdo.

Prior to the beginning of each summer season, Naval Sup-port Force Antarctica's Port Hueneme detachment selects oneor more representatives from various departments to provideliaison and research for the command when communicationsand time schedules make it difficult for deployed personnel toaccomplish those objectives. Additionally, Naval Support ForceAntarctica's homeport representatives are responsible for co-ordinating cargo and passenger operations for the continentalUnited States portion of transit to and from Antarctica, andmaterial control operations within the United States. They alsocoordinate the loading of cargo bound for McMurdo Stationonto the Military Sealift Command vessel M/V Green Wave.This cargo consists of supplies used for end-of-season replen-ishments for the upcoming winter, and through the next sum-mer season, at McMurdo, South Pole, and Palmer Station.

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