2, 2006: My 2006 USAP experience began with the requisite 2-day training and orientation in Denver, Colorado, at the Raytheon Polar Services (RPSC) headquarters. As I entered the building and signed up for my security badge, I reminded myself that these next two days would likely represent my most "unantarctic" moment and I tried to ignore the cold feet that grew colder with this bizarre exposure to a large, very militaristic corporation.
You see, I have been a mountain guide for nearly a decade and prior to working in the US Antarctic Program, my only previous corporate exposure related to guiding CEOs up some of the larger mountains of the world. Glimpsing the larger corporate world is always a shock, especially when I find myself listening to the finer points of safely climbing a step ladder. Of note, this discussion received about as much time as I would later receive in Antarctica to train scientists on hypothermia prevention in -30C temperatures.
People are endlessly interested in this apparently unlikely relationship between National Science Foundation and Raytheon Polar Services. Given the US commitment to upholding the Antarctic Treaty and its stated intent of maintaining the continent for peaceful purposes, this seems to be a bit of a contradiction. In fact, I have entered into long discussions with a close friend, who works in refugee camps around the world, about my ethical view on this subject. To appease such dissonance, I respond ‘nothing we do in Antarctica relates to war’. Ultimately, I rationalize; much of the science I personally support relates to issues I am very interested in supporting. RPSC won the contract.
As touched upon above, the Antarctic Treaty prevents any militarization of the continent, any oil or mineral exploration, or the dividing of the continent into territories and sets set aside Antarctica as the "Continent of Peace". This last piece is differently interpreted by the member countries. Chile, for example, contends that a piece of the Antarctic pie is theirs and is actively trying to encourage a permanent settlement, complete with babies.
McMurdo, where I am soon heading, was established in 1955 and is the largest station on the continent. Interestingly, it is located in the Ross Dependency, which is New Zealand's claimed piece of the pie. Ironically, neither the US nor the former USSR claimed a piece of the pie, although at the height of the cold war there was discussion by both countries to build a station at the South Pole. A feat the US achieved with the building of the Scott Amundson-Scott South Pole Station in 1957. In essence, the US has a station on everyone's claimed piece of the pie.
http://www.nsf.gov/news/overviews/arcticantarctic/interactive.jsp
Taking a break, I wandered through the HQ office where I ran into an old friend, John Evans, who is a more contemporary Antarctic explorer. John was among a group that made the first ascent of Mount Vincent back in the 1960s. His passion for the continent is unmistakable, even in the cubicle where he now organizes remote zodiac supported science trips on the Antarctic Peninsula. Ever humble in demeanor, John slowly shared plans for an upcoming return to Mount Vincent this Austral Summer to try to climb the mountain again, 40 years later. John shared some tales of the climb with me and I joked with him about how 'silly' his climbing gear looked as I admired a full page color photo in National Geographic 1964 of him abseiling a 60 degree snow slope using a body wrap. This brief encounter with John on one of my breaks reminded me of my own love for the place and the people like myself who are drawn there, to this southern land once referred to as terra incognito.
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