By LAC Haydz Low
Operation Antarctica is the ongoing, annual New Zealand Defence Force contribution to the NZ/US logistic pool, providing air transport and logistical support to the New Zealand Antarctic Programme. Every season, NZDF personnel volunteer to assist. Leading Aircraftsman Haydz Low is part of the current team and tells of his experience to date …
Operation Antarctica has been a success so far, with the movement of cargo and passengers to the ice.
Training
We started this season with two and a half weeks pre-deployment training. During this time we were staying at Burnham Army Camp but conducted all our training at Christchurch Airport.
The training, conducted by the Expeditionary Support Squadron Air Movements personnel, consisted of:
- safety training
- vehicle driving
- marshalling
- pallet building
- passenger check-ins, and
- job roles specific for the Antarctic Season.
Harewood Terminal Team
We were then transferred to the Harewood Terminal Team (HTT), where our work was broken into four shifts—two day shifts, a night shift, and rostered days off—rotated on a six-day roster system.
The HTT is responsible for:
- coordinating cargo
- building freight into aircraft loads specific to the C17 or C130
- load planning, and
- loading and unloading a variety of aircraft.
The HTT is made up of about 20 Defence Force personnel including Army, Navy, Air, and the Christchurch-based ESS RNZAF Air Movement permanent staff. In the 2009/10 HTT group, we have many different trades working together—Motor Trade, Physical Training Instructors, Administration, Marine Technicians, Movement Operatives, Fire-fighters, and Supply—all coming together to step out of their normal, daily jobs to do something different and exciting.
Freight delivered
By mid-January 2010, the HTT had delivered to Antarctica:
- 2,580,042 lbs of freight
- 2,741 passengers
- 206,574 lbs of baggage
- 514 aircraft pallets
- a 36,000 lb Bull Dozer
- a 13,000 lb Snow Cat, and
- 3 helicopters, each weighing in at about 4,000 lbs.
By the end of the season we are expecting to have sent about 600 built-up pallets of cargo to the ice.
Our main modes of cargo and passenger transport are the New York Air National Guard C130 Ski Hercs, the Kiwi C130s, and the C-17 Globemaster—hauling the biggest payloads.
Recommendation
I am really enjoying my time in the HTT as part of Operation Antarctica. For some of us it brings a change of work style and a chance to work with other coalition forces and services. We have a great bunch of people on the team. Every day is different from the last and new challenges are always just around the corner. It is definitely worth coming back to next year.
Sign Up!
The HTT part of Operation Antarctica usually begins at the end of September and goes through to March the following year. You can apply for 6-month positions that finish in March, or you can apply for the 3-month positions that finish in December, just in time for Christmas.
For more information contact:
Flight Sergeant Reginald Dawson
(Directorate of Career Management–Air)