SQUADRON WRAPS UP 44 YEARS OF `FREEZE'; NAVY ENDS LOCAL UNIT'S ANTARCTICA ROLE.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer Naval Petty Officer 2nd Class
Petty Officer 2nd Class or PO2 is a Naval non-commissioned member rank of the Canadian Forces. Allen Thompson, who just completed his fourth and final logistics mission to Antarctica last month, already has made his plans for next Christmas. As part of the Naval Air Station A Naval Air Station is an airbase of the United States Navy. Such bases are used to house Naval Aviation squadrons and support commands. List of Functioning US Naval Air Stations
``We're making plans ahead of time,'' said Thompson, an aviation electrician. ``It's going to be quite exciting. I enjoyed my four years here but I'm looking forward to doing something else.'' He was among 1,700 people, including the remaining 180 members of the Antarctic Development Squadron Six, who attended a gala ``disestablishment'' ceremony at the base Saturday. U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Mike Bowman was the guest speaker. The operation, a victim of Department of Defense cuts to the Navy, will be taken over by the New York Air National Guard The New York Air National Guard is the component of the United States Air National Guard operating within the state of New York. NYANG operates Air Support units and is part of the Northeast Air Defense Sector. 109th Airlift Wing from Schenectady, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Cora Fields, Point Mugu spokeswoman. Each year since 1956, the squadron spent September through February transporting supplies and equipment from New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. to bases in the Antarctic, including the South Pole South Pole, southern end of the earth's axis, lat. 90° S. It is distinguished from the south magnetic pole. The South Pole was reached by Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer, in 1911. See Antarctica. , for government scientists studying geology, glaciers This is a list of glaciers. Due to somewhat sparse information, some glaciers, especially those in the tropics, may no longer exist as listed. This is especially true for glaciers in Africa and New Guinea. , marine life and the climate there. Although daylight shines 24 hours a day during what is summertime in the Southern Hemisphere, temperatures have dropped to 100 degrees below zero with a windchill factor. Yet members of the operation, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, were saddened when they returned to Point Mugu for the last time Feb. 16. ``They were upset that when we left the continent, we were never coming back,'' said Dave Jackson, the squadron's commanding officer. ``It's quite a sacrifice they have to make. You fly seven days a week the entire time you're down there. I'm sad to see the squadron disestablished, especially being the last commanding officer.'' Earl ``Buz'' Dryfoose, who served on ``Operation Deep Freeze'' missions from a Navy base in Quonset, R.I., in 1957-1962, flew in from Nashville, Ind., for the ceremony. ``It was a five-year slice of my life,'' he said. ``It was one of the finest tours in the Navy. I wouldn't have missed this (ceremony) for anything.'' As recently as four years ago, the program sported more than 500 Point Mugu personnel operating seven 83,000-pound C-130 Hercules transportation planes, which are supported by wheels or giant skis that allow for takeoffs and landings on ice runways. The planes carry a maximum payload (1) Refers to the "actual data" in a packet or file minus all headers attached for transport and minus all descriptive meta-data. In a network packet, headers are appended to the payload for transport and then discarded at their destination. of 31,974 pounds when the skis are in place and 36,142 pounds when using wheels. ``(Operation Deep Freeze) is the only ski-equipped C-130 unit remaining in the world,'' Fields said. When the Department of Defense began drastic cuts, the Navy realized it could not spare more than 500 personnel for missions on a peaceful continent, even if the science foundation was funding the operation. So the foundation transferred its operation to the 109th Airlift Wing, which already had been routinely flying missions to Greenland. ``It was the natural choice for that unit to take over the mission,'' Jackson said. In its 44 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time Point Mugu squadron accumulated more than 200,000 flight hours, transported more than 195,000 scientists - many made more than one trip - and carried more than 240,000 million pounds of cargo and 10 million gallons of fuel. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) During closing ceremonies for ``Deep Freeze'', a C-130 is displayed at Point Mugu. (2--Color) Devin Grange, 5, tests out a Huey helicopter that was used by pilots of the Antarctic Development Squadron Six to take scientists around Antarctica. Operation Deep Freeze was ``disestablished'' as a result of Navy cuts; missions had been in effect since 1956 and will be taken over by the New York Air National Guard 109th Airlift Wing. (3) A crowd of 1,700 showed up Saturday morning for closing ceremonies of the Antarctic Development Squadron Six at Point Mugu. Tina Gerson/Daily News |
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