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Russ Light
Principal Engineer
Bob Miyamoto
Associate Director
Paul Aguilar
Senior Field Engineer
Eric Boget
Engineer IV
Chris Craig
Maintenance Mechanic
Adam Huxtable
Field Engineer
Larry Joireman
Research Coordinator
Fred Karig
Principal Mechanical Engineer
Mike Kenney
Oceanographer III
Sean Lastuka
Engineer III
Trina Litchendorf
Oceanographer
Keith Magness
Field Engineer
Tim McGinnis
Senior Engineer
Nick Michel-Hart
Engineer III
Fran Olson
Senior Field Engineer
Pete Pehl
Diver
Peter Sabin
Senior Field Engineer
Dean Stewart
Field Engineer
Sam Sublett
UW Dive Safety Officer
Troy Swanson
Field Engineer
Keith Van Thiel
Engineer III
Tim Wen
Senior Engineer
Arctic Submarine Laboratory
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To build a village for a population of over 50 on an ice floe in the Beaufort Sea some 200 miles from land is a severe logistics test. Construction of APLIS began with pioneering flights out of Prudhoe Bay to search for a location with ideal ice conditions. The art of choosing appropriate ice includes discerning ice thickness, smoothness, sheet size, and the presence of leads while flying over in an aircraft. For example, ice only 12" thick—too thin for aircraft operations—appears darker from about 700' above. The station was established on a piece of first-year ice, that is, ice that had formed over open water during the preceding fall–winter. The average ice thickness at camp was 4.5'. The sheet was also suitable for two runways set out perpendicular to each other. A preferred runway is about 2000' long and 50' wide. The easiest way to measure is to pace it out, each pace about 3', therefore 16 paces across. The runway was marked with snow-filled black trash bags along the sides and the centerlines were indicated with doubled snow-filled orange trash bags about 500' off each end. An APLIS windsock was placed halfway down and north of the runway per pilots' request. Suitable runways were critical as three cargo containers of materiel had to be transported by shuttle flights between Prudhoe Bay and the ice station. On the first day of camp construction the six-person APL-UW logistics team was on the Caravan and in the air by 8 am with floor panels for the first structures. The CASA followed with fuel and floor beams. By the end of the first day one heated structure was complete, the runway was extended to ~1700–1800', and several other structures were partially built. For several days the team commuted between Prudhoe Bay and the ice station. With the completion of a temporary cookhouse and two sleeping cabins, a seven-member team was ready for their first overnight on the ice. After nearly two weeks of work in sub-zero temperatures and near-constant winds, camp construction was complete and all preparations were made for the U.S. Navy exercises. During the exercises, camp population was sustained at over 50 personnel, with a maximum of 72. To keep this population fed and warm several flights of food and fuel were required. All the camp's heated structures and the electricity generators required twenty 55 gallon drums of fuel, which had to be filled every two days. Water was produced onsite by daily mining and melting of multiyear ice. Mining multiyear ice is the preferred method as it is very pure (low salt content) and cheaper than flying in bottled water. APLIS used 75–100 gallons of water daily. The transfer of personnel and materiel to and from APLIS employed several aircraft. The "APLIS Air Force" consisted of a Cessna Grand Caravan for personnel and materiel transfer, a CASA 212 for large cargo, and two Bell helicopters, a 212 and 412sp, for local camp support including torpedo recoveries. On most days during the exercise, there were two flights from the CASA and Caravan to be unloaded and loaded. Ground transportation was by foot or snowmobile. The APLIS motorpool was made up of three heavy duty and three light weight snowmobiles. The lightweight snowmobiles could be used on ice mining excursions and to move a couple people at a time. The heavy duty snowmobiles were used to move large items including camp structures. |
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