Kadena airmen helped transport South Pole patients to better facilities

[unhappycamper]

Air Force Tech Sgt. Leslie Green stands next to a LC-130 plane on skis at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. The plane helps transport patients to medical facilities at Christchurch, New Zealand.


Kadena airmen helped transport South Pole patients to better facilities
By Natasha Lee, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Life is as quirky as it is cold at the edge of Antarctica, where McMurdo Station sits.

Bordered by glacial mountains and ice caves, the science research center there is home to about 1,500 people — roughly 200 scientists, with the rest providing labor and operations support to the compound affectionately referred to as "The Ice."

To hear Air Force Capt. Sam Millar and Tech. Sgt. Leslie Green describe it, a stint at McMurdo Station is like living an episode of "Northern Exposure," the ’90s TV series about a New York doctor who sets up practice in an offbeat Alaska town.

Down at The Ice, penguins waddle by LC-130 planes that have skis attached as landing gear, while seals beach themselves on the runway.

And the perpetual daylight during the summer months can be a bit of an adjustment.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60769