Editing Operation Deep Freeze (section)

==Subsequent developments==
The Operation Deep Freeze activities were succeeded by "Operation Deep Freeze II", and so on. In 1960, the year of the fifth mission, codenames began to be based on the year (e.g., "Operation Deep Freeze 60").<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wallwork |first1=Ellery |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yf9xwwEACAAJ |title=Operation Deep Freeze: 50 Years of US Air Force Airlift in Antarctica |last2=Wilcoxson |first2=Kathryn |publisher=Office of History, [[Air Mobility Command]] |year=2006 |pages=25}}</ref> The Coast Guard sometimes participated; among others, the [[USCGC Northwind (WAGB-282)|USCGC ''Northwind'']],<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 9, 2020 |title=Northwind, 1945 (WAGB 282) |url=https://www.history.uscg.mil/Browse-by-Topic/Assets/Water/All/Article/2105450/northwind-1945-wagb-282/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.history.uscg.mil%2FBrowse-by-Topic%2FAssets%2FArticle%2F2105450%2Fnorthwind-1945-wagb-282%2F |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=United States Coast Guard |language=en-US}}</ref> the [[USCGC Polar Sea]] and the [[USS Glacier (AGB-4)|USCGC ''Glacier'']] occasionally supported the mission.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=P. |date=1980 |title=Ship operations, Deep Freeze 80 |journal=[[Antarctic Journal]] |pages=230}}</ref> The Navy's [[VXE-6|Antarctic Development Squadron Six]] had been flying scientific and military missions to [[Greenland]] and the arctic compound's Williams Field since 1975. The 109th operated ski-equipped [[Lockheed LC-130|LC-130s]] had been flying [[National Science Foundation]] support missions to [[Antarctica]] since 1988. The official name for the Navy's command in Antarctica was US Naval Support Force Antarctica, (NSFA) Terminal Operations.<ref>{{Cite report|last=NAVY MEDICINE SUPPORT COMMAND JACKSONVILLE FL|date=2010-03-01|title=Commander's Guidance 2010-2011 (Navy Medicine Support Command)|location=Fort Belvoir, Virginia|doi=10.21236/ada524217}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-13-mn-28431-story.html|title=Navy Comes In From Cold, Ends Antarctica Operations|date=1998-03-13|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2019-07-07|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref>

In early 1996, the [[National Guard of the United States|United States National Guard]] announced that the [[109th Airlift Wing]] at [[Schenectady County Airport]] in [[Scotia, New York]] was slated to assume that entire mission from the [[United States Navy]] in 1999. The Antarctic operation would be fully funded by the National Science Foundation. The 109th expected to add approximately 235 full-time personnel to support that operation. The decision to switch from Naval leadership to National Guard was one of a cost-saving measure due to post cold war budget cuts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-13-mn-28431-story.html|title=Navy Comes In From Cold, Ends Antarctica Operations|date=1998-03-13|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2019-07-07|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref>

The possibility of the [[Air National Guard]] assuming operational control of the mission had first emerged in 1988. The 109th Airlift Wing had been notified that, almost overnight, one of the [[Distant Early Warning Line]] (DEW) radar sites that it supported in Greenland was going to be shut down. The other sites would soon follow, and the 109th would be largely out of business because its primary mission had ended. The unit had been informally keeping tabs on Navy LC-130 operations supporting the National Science Foundation in Antarctica. Because of its aging aircraft fleet and extensive depot maintenance period, the United States Navy asked if the 109th could provide limited emergency [[search and rescue]] (SAR) capability for two years to support Operation Deep Freeze, which the Air Guard accepted. At that time, it had no thought of taking over the mission. The 109th believed it to be an exercise in futility for its aircraft to deploy to the Antarctic to merely wait for emergency SAR missions, so it asked if the Navy could help carry cargo to the [[South Pole]]. The Navy resisted at first because its procedures and cargo configurations differed from those of the Air Guard, but eventually it agreed. The main mission of the U.S. Navy and Air National Guard [[C-130 Hercules|C-130s]] was to airlift fuel and supplies to the National Science Foundation's South Pole Station so that its personnel could survive the isolation of the long Antarctic winter, which lasted from February to October.

An Air National Guard working group had been formed to study the idea in 1990. The following year, a dialog began among the Air National Guard, the [[Air Staff (United States)|Air Staff]], and the United States Navy. Among other issues, it was difficult at first for the Air Guard to convince the Air Staff to commit long term resources to an area of the world that had not been declared a warfighting region because of international treaties. The Air Guard had supported military operations in [[Greenland]] and the Arctic (including classified U.S. Navy operations) since the mid-1970s with the ski-equipped C-130s of the [[109th Airlift Wing]]. It convinced Headquarters, [[United States Air Force]] that it was not in the nation's best interest to abandon the capability to achieve quick and reliable air access to both polar regions.

In March 1993, the U.S. Navy hosted a two-day workshop with representatives of the National Science Foundation, Air National Guard, and other interested parties to explore logistics support options for the operation. A draft concept of operations had been prepared by the Air Directorate of the National Guard Bureau in 1993. In February 1996, a commitment was made to transfer the Operation Deep Freeze mission and all [[LC-130 Hercules|LC-130H]] aircraft operating within the [[United States Department of Defense|U.S. Department of Defense]] to the Air National Guard. In September 1996, senior officers from the 109th Airlift Wing briefed the National Guard Bureau on their concept of operations and the status of their preparations to implement Operation Deep Freeze.

[[File:C-141 ODF.jpg|thumb|left|A [[United States Air Force|US Air Force]] [[C-141 Starlifter]] participating in Operation Deep Freeze.]]
Under the transition plan which they had developed, the Air National Guard would continue to augment the United States Navy during the October 1996 – March 1997 operating season for the [[United States Antarctic Program]]. At the end of the October 1997 – March 1998 season, the Air National Guard would assume command of the program. During the third year of the transition program (October 1998 to March 1999), the U.S. Navy would augment the ANG before the latter took over the entire program the following year. There would be seven LC-130s in theater. They would stage from [[Christchurch International Airport#Military|Christchurch International Airport]] in [[Christchurch]], New Zealand to [[McMurdo Station]], Antarctica. Traditional Guardsmen, technicians, and the cadre of [[Active Guard Reserve|Active Guard Reservists]] specifically brought on board to support Operation Deep Freeze would all be involved in the mission. When fully transitioned to the Air National Guard, the 109th Airlift Wing would have ten [[Lockheed LC-130|LC-130s]] in its inventory. These would include upgrades of four LC-130 aircraft in-service with the unit plus three new aircraft and three that would be transferred from the U.S. Navy. Air National Guard estimates of the savings to be realized by consolidating the operation in the hands of the 109th Airlift Wing ranged from [[United States dollar|US $]]5 million to US$15 million a year. The actual transition to Air Guard control began in March 1996.

By 1999, the United States Navy had transferred military support operations for Antarctica over to the United States Air Force and its contractor [[Raytheon Polar Services]]. Operation Deep Freeze was managed by the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] and [[Air National Guard]] members of [[Air National Guard Detachment 13]], a subordinate unit which administratively reported directly to the Air National Guard Readiness Center (ANGRC) at [[Andrews Air Force Base]] in [[Maryland]], and operationally reported to [[United States Pacific Command]] (USPACOM) in [[Honolulu, Hawaii]]. Upon its deactivation in 2005, the detachment consisted of a full-time officer (Commander) and four full-time non-commissioned officers (Logistics, Communications, Security Forces, and Information Management) which remained in New Zealand year-round.<ref>{{cite web|date=30 September 2007|title=OPERATION DEEP FREEZE DEPLOYMENT GUIDE 2004-2005|url=http://www.odfpersco.net/downloads/odf+deployment+guide.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930110124/http://www.odfpersco.net/downloads/odf%20deployment%20guide.pdf|archive-date=30 September 2007|access-date=26 March 2018}}</ref> Operational command now belongs to Commander, Thirteenth Air Force as part of USPACOM. In 2005, through the office of the Secretary of Defense, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command was designated to support the Joint Task Force Support Forces Antarctica, Operation Deep Freeze. CDRUSPACOM delegated this joint operation to the Commander, [[United States Pacific Air Forces|Pacific Air Forces]], who then delegated primary responsibility for execution of the JTF SFA operation to the Commander, [[13th Air Force]].