here in the Arctic are the best of the best. They come out of the Merchant Marine. The military had learned a long time ago that in order to keep the moral high and the troops happy they didn’t skimp on the meals. The typical daily caloric input up here in the Arctic is over 5,000 a day and it’s not just all sugar. It’s full of good protein with plenty of meat and potatoes. Keep in mind those extra calories might keep you alive for a few more hours if you go down on the icecap. Too bad you’re really screwed if you go down in the water.”
“We have enough food on site to last us sixty days. Water is no problem. I’ll show you our drag line and snow harvesting operation in a little bit.” He showed him the huge freezers and warehouse pantry. “The first floor consists of warehouse space, receiving, and our power plant with six huge, 12 cylinder White Superior diesel generators.” Vince remarked, “We need three running at one time to supply site power. We have two in standby mode and one down for overhaul at all times. It takes the Ravens six weeks of round the clock flying to supply our diesel fuel requirements for the year. They make about two hundred flights out here from Sonde in a six week period and off load over a half million gallons.”
They next climbed a flight of stairs to the lateral tropospheric communications room. Vince explained that radio waves are bounced off the troposphere to adjacent sites. This allows for over the horizon radio communications versus line of sight VHF. It is also very difficult to jam. Half of this floor was a gymnasium with a weight room. “We have to have some place to work off all that pastry.” In the back corner was a varnished plywood wall with a door that said “BAR.” “We also have to have a place to drown our sorrows.”
Next, Vince showed Dave the third floor living quarters. There were a dozen or so rooms arranged on the outside perimeter of this floor. The walls were a good three feet thick and were highly insulated. Each room had a window, more for fire escape than for view. This floor also housed the radar console room in the center of the complex. Vince explained the radar system to him, “We use the FPS-30. With the FPS-30, you could throw an orange into the air thirty miles out and we would see it.” Dave asked what the range was. Vince answered, “The actual range is classified, but it is over 250 miles. We have overlap with each of our adjacent sites.” Vince punched four digits on a cipher lock and opened the door to the radar room. “This is the heart and soul of our complex. This is our console room, ops center, and communications center. It is manned 24/7. If you need to take a leak there is always someone on standby to cover for you.” The room wasn’t all that large. It had two scopes side by side, a low altitude scope and a high altitude scope. “There are sixteen permanent party members on-site. We have twenty one with you and the drilling crew. We operate with three RadTechs, two ComTechs, a chief mechanic and two apprentices, an electrician, a laborer, a janitor, a chef, and two dozer operators that constantly plow snow away from the site and keep our skiway smooth for aircraft operations. Then there is myself and a LogTech.”
Vince introduced Dave to Jim Ewing. “Jim has been on the line for nearly six years without getting burned out. They all make good money up here and really have no place to spend it. Unlike many of the guys stationed up here, Jim doesn’t have an ex-wife down south to worry about. He just keeps banking it away.” Jim shook his hand and pointed his thumb at Vince. “Talk about your money bags. The reason we have a twenty million dollars worth of com gear on this site is so Vince can talk to his broker every day.”
Just then the radio speaker crackled to life, “Sob Story, Sob Story...this is Raven Two over.” Jim keyed his hand set and replied, “Raven Two, Sob Story is with you.” “Roger, Sob Story...We are at 15,000 and descending…Please give us a weather and radar check.” “Roger, Raven Two, I have you one two zero miles, bearing two eight zero. Weather is as follows, outside air temp (OAT) at minus two fiver degrees Fahrenheit, winds three six zero at ten, visibility three miles, ceiling two thousand and overcast with marginal VFR. Be advised Raven One is on the Apron taxiing out. ETD fifteen minutes.”
Raven Two acknowledged the information. Vince said, “Raven two is the load of drilling gear along with Dr. Rapp and Dr. Timken. We have a half an hour to finish up your tour before I have to head back outside to greet them and supervise the offloading.”
Vince took Dave up another twisting flight of stairs. He could feel the altitude getting to him now. He was huffing and puffing. “It’ll take you a couple of days to get acclimated to the altitude. Remember, DYE-3 is nearly two miles above sea level.”
They exited the stair shaft and were on the third floor. Here there were several rooms dedicated to the station chief, and any VIP visitors. “Here is your room, Captain.” Vince opened the door and Dave was pleasantly surprised to see a large room with a queen size bed, dressers, couch, chair, coffee table, and TV, all the comforts of home. “I’ll have Sven bring up your bags in a little bit. We can’t go up into the Radome with the antenna hot and spinning. It would fry your gonads in a fraction of a second. My room is at the end of the hall. Dr. Rapp and Dr. Timken have the other two rooms. We’ll go down to my office real quick and I’ll give you a visitors’ safety briefing on what to do in case of fire, medical emergencies, communications procedures, and all that good stuff.”
The PA system echoed off the halls, “Raven One off the ice and out bound to Sonde. Raven Two inbound…ETA ten minutes.” With this much going on at the site, Vince had air traffic calls put on the PA to keep everyone informed what was happening.
After the visitors’ brief, Vince said, “I’ve got to bundle up and head back outside. You can wait in the dining room or you’re welcome to join me. Your choice.” Dave was no fool. “Until I get acclimated and my temples stop bleeding, I think I’ll wait inside. I’d like to wait in the console room if that’s okay with you. Besides my mukluks are in my luggage out there somewhere.” Jim said, “That’s fine. Just announce yourself to Jim on the portal phone outside the door. You’re cleared for access to all areas of the site. But just a word of wisdom, never let that arctic survival gear bag out of your control. Never know when you will need it.”
The PA system came to life once more, “Attention on-site, attention on-site…Raven Two, Raven Two on the ice. Taxiing to the drill site.” Jim told him it would take about forty minutes to offload the piping and drilling equipment. He showed him every knob, switch, and dial in the console room. He even showed him how he was tracking a couple of commercial flights out of Europe doing the great circle route over Greenland on their way to Detroit and Toronto. Dave’s cover story was to be the Air Force Contracting Officers Technical Representative, COTR for the Space Command modifications. He was the on-site inspector. Sort of like the IG. No wonder everyone was treating him like royalty here and he was getting the VIP room.
Jim asked him about the Space Command site upgrades that he would be overseeing to support the Space Shuttle polar orbit launches out of Vandenberg AFB in California. Dave smiled, “Well, if I tell you, I’d have to shoot you.” Jim smiled and said, “Well, I’ll bet you my gun is bigger than your gun. We have two old M-1 carbine rifles in the cabinet over there. I don’t think they’ve ever been fired in over twenty years. Do bullets have a shelf life?” Dave laughed, “Don’t know. What do you suppose they have them up here for? Hold off being overrun by the Russians, put down a mutiny, take out a few polar bears, and protect the site from space aliens?” Jim replied, “Might be some element of truth in all the above.” Dave gave him a disbelieving look, “You mean they’re here to protect you from little green men?” Jim laughed, “Hell, no, I’m talking about the polar bears. We do get them every once in a while up here. Even though we’re over a hundred miles from the east coast, they do come out here. And when they get here, they are very hungry, and mean as hell. I’ll continue with your site safety training. Anyone working outdoors is issued a bear cracker. And, no, it isn’t something to eat. It is a quarter stick of dynamite. You light it like a flare and then toss it at a bear to scare it away. However, they don’t work very well. All that
