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WAGNERJR-THESIS-2018.Pdf HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY PARTICIPATION IN OPERATION DEEP FREEZE ___________ A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History Sam Houston State University ___________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts ___________ by Dale LaForest Wagner Jr. May 2018 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY PARTICIPATION IN OPERATION DEEP FREEZE by Dale LaForest Wagner Jr. ___________ APPROVED: Nicholas Pappas, PhD Committee Director Jeremiah Dancy, PhD Committee Member James S. Olson, PhD Committee Member Abbey Zink, PhD Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences DEDICATION I dedicate my thesis to my wife Mary Beth and daughter Sarah, without whom this would not have been possible. I am forever in your debt for allowing me this opportunity to pursue my dream. I am grateful for my parents, Dale and Mary Wagner, and to my many teachers and professors Benton Cain, Andrew Orr and Jeffrey Littlejohn to name but a few who have pushed me to do my best over the many years of my education. To my friends and church family who have supported me as well, I appreciate all you have done as well. iii ABSTRACT Wagner, Dale L., History of the United States Military Participation in Operation Deep Freeze. Master of Arts (History), May 2018, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas. In 1955, the longest non-combat military operation in United States history began; it continues to this day. Operation Deep Freeze began in support of the then upcoming International Geophysical Year (IGY), but it went beyond when the U.S. government used it to test equipment and procedures in real world conditions with an eye toward the Cold War and the Soviet Union. IGY has been the subject of some historical research; for the most part, that research examined the scientists and the science conducted. In 2006, a study was done on the contributions of the U.S. Air Force, but historians neglected the contributions of the other military branches to the overall mission. Without them, Operation Deep Freeze would have been impossible. By using as much first hand material as possible -- memoirs, original documents and oral histories -- I intent to see how the U.S. military contributed to the exploration of Antarctica in the last 60 plus years to assess how the soldiers, sailors and airmen, many of them combat veterans, viewed the mission, a mission that was not very glamorous and conducted under some of the harshest weather conditions on the planet, but a mission that was essential to the success of an international project. KEY WORDS: Operation Deep Freeze, Antarctica, U.S. Navy, Seabees, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, International Geophysical Year, Rear Admiral George Dufek, South Pole, Paul Siple, Admiral Richard Byrd iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge and say thank you to everyone who helped make this possible, without you, this would not have happened. To my friends and colleagues who helped read the early drafts, to the proofreaders who helped find errors, and to Dr. Lara Godbille, Director of U.S. Navy Seabee Museum at Port Hueneme who explained what was and was not available to researchers and who helped to suggest this topic. To my committee members -- Dr. Nicholas Pappas, Dr. Jeremiah Dancy, and Dr. James Olson – I appreciate your assistance throughout this long process. I am also grateful to Dr. Jeffrey Littlejohn for giving me my first opportunity to write on a graduate level for publication; it was a true learning experience. v PREFACE The idea for this research grew out of my passion for military history and my desire to give something back to my beloved U.S. Navy and its history. Dr. Lara Godbille explained what materials were available in her archive about Operation Deep Freeze. In my Navy career, I never had the chance to participate in Operation Deep Freeze, in truth; I cannot say that I even knew about it. However, the more that I investigated, the more intrigued I became, and after doing the research, the more I wish I had. While the early days of the operation were hard and dangerous, the knowledge gained about Antarctica and the stories passed on to posterity seemed invaluable. Previous missions had visited the Antarctic, but never on this scale and never on such a short timeline. The level of planning was immense. In addition, just as NASA had to make sure the men selected as astronauts would be able to perform when needed; the men of Operation Deep Freeze were hand selected for the same reasons. By studying this Operation and these men, and how they overcame their obstacles, some caused by the mission, some by each other, I hope to show how the U.S. Military not only contributed to its success, but without the military’s help, the mission of setting up these bases and maintaining them, would not have been possible at all. Today, we are used to large multinational corporations that can step in and help during a large international event, but in the 1950s, they did not exist. While dozens of countries were involved, most did not contribute anywhere near the amount of men, materials, or money as the United States. In 2017 dollars, the U.S. spent over $2.2 billion just to build the bases, billions more over the years to maintain them. These bases supported other countries’ efforts to build and maintain bases and research stations, insuring that the vi International Geophysical Year (IGY) was a success. Moreover, within the backdrop of the Cold War, no one involved wanted the help of the only other nation – the Soviet Union -- that might have had the resources to do the mission, because no one knew if international cooperation was even possible. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................v PREFACE .......................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ viii Index Map to Antarctica and location of field stations ………..………………....xi Frequent Acronyms Used in Thesis……………………………………………...xii CHAPTER I: PRELUDE TO OPERATION DEEP FREEZE.....................................1 The International Geophysical Year and Operation Deep Freeze ............................1 Operation Deep Freeze and the United State Navy ..................................................5 Issues of Command ..................................................................................................9 The Planning of Operation Deep Freeze ................................................................12 Logistics and Transportation ..................................................................................14 Organization and Training of Personnel .................................................................24 CHAPTER II: THE BIG SHOW...............................................................................26 Embarkation ...........................................................................................................26 New Zealand ......................................................................................................... 30 Antarctica and McMurdo Sound .......................................................................... 31 Little America V ....................................................................................................36 Hidden Dangers .....................................................................................................40 viii Conflict between the New and the Old .................................................................41 Death at McMurdo Station ...................................................................................43 Aviation Operations at McMurdo Station ............................................................ 45 Search and Rescue ................................................................................................ 49 End of the Season ................................................................................................ 55 Wintering Over ..................................................................................................... 58 CHAPTER III: DEEP FREEZE II .............................................................................65 The Byrd Clarification............................................................................................. 65 Changing Plans........................................................................................................ 68 Crevasses ................................................................................................................. 72 Departures................................................................................................................ 75 Death in Antarctica...................................................................................................77 Flight Operations in Antarctica.................................................................................79 Tractor Trains to Byrd Station................................................................................. 85 The South Pole........................................................................................................
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