HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii -- A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., completed the first winter fly-in, or WinFly, mission of the 2022-2023 Operation Deep Freeze season.
The aircraft delivered approximately 184 people and 139K pounds of cargo to McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
Operation Deep Freeze is a joint service, inter-agency support for the National Science Foundation, which manages the United States Antarctic Program. Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica, provides Department of Defense support to the NSF and the USAP through ODF.
“The 2022-2023 ODF season is another opportunity to demonstrate our military dedication, ingenuity and labor in support of the Antarctic mission,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Johnson, JTF-SFA acting deputy commander. “We took all appropriate measures to prevent COVID-19 [and] still were able to provide transportation and logistics to the U.S. Antarctic Program and the National Science Foundation.”
JTF-SFA coordinates strategic inter-theater airlift, tactical deep field support, aeromedical evacuation support, search and rescue response, sealift, seaport access, bulk fuel supply logistics, port cargo handling, and transportation requirements for the NSF mission.
The WinFly mission returned 22 people and 75K pounds of cargo to Christchurch, New Zealand.
The squadron has two additional WinFly missions scheduled to take additional people and cargo to McMurdo Station over the course of several days.
The ODF season runs August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023, allowing the NSF’s research teams and partnered entities the safest weather and best timeframe to accomplish their joint missions.