Posted With Penguins

BY MIKE COPPOCK ….

Staff members at Raytheon Polar Services Company in Centennial on Denver’s south side were frantic. They needed to know where their fellow employees were. It was February 22, 2011. Christchurch, New Zealand, had been hit by 6.3-magnitude earthquake and the devastation of the city was immense.

Much of the downtown area had fallen, including the famous cathedral and many of the hotels and pubs frequented by the Raytheon staff. At that time, the number included about 600 U.S. Antarctic Program staff members who were traveling through Christchurch, the “Gateway to the Antarctic.”

Luckily, the USAP’s New Zealand office is located just across from the Christchurch International Airport, about 5 miles from the city center, and damage was minimal.

The quake had hit at the end of the austral summer (October to February) after a busy season of scientific research in Antarctica. During the previous few weeks, hundreds of staff had been flown from the “Ice” (an international nickname for the White Continent) to Christchurch. Most were vacationing in New Zealand after completing their six-month contracts to work at the bottom of the world. Others were preparing to leave for Antarctica.

Both Centennial and Christchurch employees worked feverishly following the earthquake, using email, Facebook and Google to verify the location of people; provide food, shelter and temporary travel documents; and arrange flights off the southern island. Within three days all of the staff members had been accounted for and only a couple had minor injuries.

Many of those staff members were from Colorado.

“I’d guess that last season we sent at least 120 Coloradans to Antarctica,” said Valerie Carroll, spokesperson for Raytheon Polar Services. “More of our workers are from Colorado than any other state.”

Carroll proudly explained that while scientists and support personnel come from each of the 50 states, the headquarters and most of the 350 or so full-time staff are here in Colorado.

For over a decade Raytheon Polar Services, a small business of Raytheon Company, has held the contract with the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar 
Programs to provide station operations, logistics, construction and maintenance on the most remote, coldest continent on the planet, in essence providing a “home town” for international researchers posted to the bottom of the world.

Antarctica is one and half times the size of the United States and contains nearly 70 percent of the planet’s fresh water and 90 percent of the planet’s ice. Though 98 percent of the continent is covered with ice, it is one of the driest spots on Earth. Winter is essentially one long dark night while summer is one continuous day. Passports are not required since Antarctica is not part of any nation and it is governed and shared by an international treaty.

The United States is one of 20 nations with research stations in Antarctica. Of the three stations, McMurdo is the largest. It has a summer population of 1,100 and a winter population of 120. South Pole has 250 residents in the summer and 55 in the winter. Palmer Station on the Palmer Peninsula, which snakes its way toward South America, has a year-round population of 35.

Depending on the year’s projects, Raytheon Polar hires about 1,000 contract workers. There are more than 100 different job types — just about every job you’d find in a small town. Pay is comparable with what one would find in the Denver area. Airfare, food, housing and a completion bonus are part of the package.

Most personnel live in dormitories with roommates. Everyone must pass background checks and stringent physical and dental exams. There is plenty of training ranging from safety and survival skills to information security.

“All kinds of personality types apply for all types of positions,” said Carroll, who has made more than two dozen trips to Antarctica. “First we look for the required job skills and experience, and then we try to learn about their personality. They must be flexible, able to deal with a camp-like environment and adapt to all the changes that Mother Nature tosses in to the plans. Our retention rate hovers at about 70 percent.”

Colorado resident Laura Jo Pfaff was inspired to go to New Zealand by her firstgrade exchange teacher who was from New Zealand and had worked in New
Zealand’s Antarctica program. The stories the teacher told about Antarctica filled her 6-year-old mind with awe about the place and a determination to get there.

“My first deployment included a four-week stint at McMurdo Station, aka the brown side of the White Continent,” reflected Pfaff. “I had waited my whole life to be able to visit this unique place, and then I spent the next 28 days with a $500 camera wondering if the mighty skua [a bird] and an occasional sponge on display were going to be my only wildlife opportunities worth capturing.

“My second deployment included a five-week experience at Palmer Station, aka the rain forest of Antarctica. The smaller, more intimate community in conjunction with the breathtaking views and constant exposure to all forms of Antarctic life fulfilled my preconceived notions of what an Antarctica
experience should be.”

Pfaff went on to serve six more weeks at McMurdo and two days at the South Pole. She commented that liking the cold is a good start if you are applying for Antarctic jobs.

Colorado resident Peter Rejcek, now editor of the online newspaper The Antarctic Sun, would agree. He followed his wife to Antarctica for the 2002–03 season. She eventually went to work for the human resources and finance department at South Pole Station where he was hired on as a carpenter’s helper.

“So my first time was 12 months at the South Pole where it got down to minus 107 F during the winter,” Rejcek 
recalled.

“If you end up at Palmer it’s quite fun to Zodiac to one of the nearby islands or watch penguins,” Rejcek said.

“McMurdo Station has some great trails for hiking. People play in bands, and there are lots of DVDs to watch and plenty of social activities.”

Rejcek admitted he would be hard-pressed to return to traditional journalism. His position as online editor for the Sun has enabled him to travel to Antarctica seven times now.

A military aircraft flies participants from Christchurch to the Ice after they arrive in New Zealand from the U.S. on a commercial carrier. Those assigned to South Pole Station continue on from McMurdo Station on a ski-equipped LC-130 aircraft. Those assigned to Palmer Station fly commercially from Denver to Santiago, Chile, and on to Punta Arenas where a research ship transports them to Palmer Station.

The roots of Raytheon Polar being located in Denver go back to 1990, when the previous contractor, Antarctic Support Associates, moved to Denver from the East Coast. The prime support contract with Raytheon Polar Services expires March of 2012. The next contractor has not been announced yet, but most hope that the headquarters will remain in Colorado.

To learn more about the USAP or employment, visit www.usap.gov.