Operation Deep Freeze Airmen and equipment safe following New Zealand Earthquake

  • Published
  • 13th Air Force
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  Fifty-five Airmen supporting Operation Deep Freeze are safe and accounted for following a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck the New Zealand capitol at 1:31 p.m. (HST) on Feb. 21.

"On behalf of the Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica, our deepest sympathies go out to the people of Christchurch," said Col. Paul Sheppard, JTF-SFA deputy commander at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

The active-duty, Reserve and Guard Airmen in Christchurch are from the 62nd Airlift Wing and the 446th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., and the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing at Stratton Air National Guard Base, New York.

"No equipment or assets supporting Operation Deep Freeze have been damaged," said Col. Sheppard. "We are continuing to fly missions to draw down manpower at McMurdo Station in preparation for the winter."

Christchurch is a maintenance and re-fueling location for Operation Deep Freeze LC-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster IIIs.

Operation Deep Freeze is an annual operation that supports the U.S. Antarctic Program and the National Science Foundation's research at sites throughout the Antarctic continent. The Joint Task Force - Support Forces Antarctica operation is led by 13th Air Force and includes strategic inter-theater airlift, tactical deep-field support, aeromedical evacuation support, search and rescue response, sealift, seaport access, bulk fuel supply, port cargo handling and transportation requirements.