HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY PARTICIPATION IN OPERATION DEEP FREEZE

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.