Flares and fuel topped the supply list for “Kool Skool,” a three-day Arctic survival training exercise to support National Science Foundation research in Greenland for 25 members of the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing.
Beginning in April, wing members delivered 177 tons of cargo and 2,000 gallons of fuel for the first rotation of the season, while the second group deployed in mid-May. Personnel are scheduled to operate from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, and Scotia, New York, home of Stratton Air National Guard Base.
“Kool Skool” supplements the National Guard’s routine supply delivery, with the mission of imparting basic field skills. Airmen spend three days learning survival skills – building shelters and using only available items to survive in the frigid Arctic temperatures.
The training also prepares personnel for a complementary program set in Antarctica, when the National Science Foundation runs its Antarctic Program during the year’s winter months. When the summer training season ends each August, airmen and aircraft will transfer to the Southern Hemisphere for the Department of Defense’s Operation Deep Freeze, the department's contribution to science research in Antarctica.
Based on the National Science Foundation’s agenda, the 109th Airlift Wing makes approximately six trips to Greenland annually, using the LC-130, the world’s largest ski-equipped aircraft and the only such craft in use by the U.S. military.
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