Air National Guard – Military Aircraft on Skis – VOA Story

During the Cold War, Greenland was a strategic location for the United States military to track and detect Soviet aircraft and ballistic missiles. The military established radar and tracking sites throughout Greenland’s ice sheet. The only way in and out of the remote facilities was by specially equipped aircraft. Since 1975, that mission has belonged to an Air Force unit based in New York state — the 109th Airlift Wing. A unit that began a now obsolete military mission has found new life in Greenland in the pursuit of science. The C-130 is a robust military cargo airplane first used by the US Air Force during the Vietnam War. It is now used by many different militaries around the world, but only the 109th has the distinction of flying to both polar regions. VECO Polar Resources is contracted by the National Science Foundation to coordinate travel and cargo for the scientists conducting the research. For the most part, everything does work. The 109th prides itself on its safety record — it has never lost an aircraft — and its maintenance record. Ice and snow can easily ground the C-130s. But decades of operating in the difficult conditions have enabled the unit to quickly return the aircraft to service. While the weather frequently wreaks havoc on tight schedules up on the ice sheet, there is no alternate way to get in and out of the remote camps. The 109th is currently the only organization capable of transporting the large amounts of cargo and people needed to …