Inside Operation Deep Freeze – Part 1 [Dispatches from Antarctica]

This post was contributed by MSgt Lee E. Hoover Jr., a Combat Correspondent at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tennessee. MSgt Hoover recently traveled to Antarctica to produce a video highlighting Air Force and Air National Guard operations throughout the continent, including the South Pole.

First things first: the chance to go to Antarctica was simply amazing. I had heard of Operation Deep Freeze a few years ago and as a journalist I considered it a dream assignment, but I never thought I would have the chance to cover the operation. So the opportunity to do so was truly a blessing.

My assignment was to cover the entirety of the operation in order to produce a half hour show highlighting the joint mission. I was to spend six days in Antarctica talking to as many people as possible. I wanted to interview maintainers, pilots, scientists, and loadmasters — anybody who played a role in the operation.

By the time I left home, I had a grand itinerary in my head. Two days into the trip, it was out the window. As the first video shows, weather is king in Antarctica, not itineraries. The scheduled C-17 flight was delayed, and then delayed again. Then it took off only to turn around and head back to New Zealand. By the time I arrived in Antarctica my six days had turned into two. But there’s an upside: now I can say I’ve flown into Antarctica twice.

Who can say that?