S.C. unit helps polar pilots

It's a fair bet penguins don't pop up as an issue in most Lowcountry workplaces.

An exception would be the air traffic controllers who watch over the frigid runways of

Antarctica from a far-flung outpost in North Charleston. They speak delicately about the

penguin problem.

From a low-key perch on the Naval Weapons Station, workers at the Office of Polar Programs

help safely guide aircraft thousands of miles away that traverse the skies above the world's

most desolate continent.


Though the space has few daily flights, the locally based unit provides crucial information

and guidance to pilots who must fly into unforgiving winds and navigate other abnormally

harsh weather conditions.

But on occasion, the focus on assisting air crews, who are usually ferrying researchers or

hauling supplies to the South Pole Station, is disrupted by gathering clusters of indigenous

penguins.

On their home turf, it seems, these flightless birds have no regard for flight safety.

"One of the biggest problems we have is penguins walking out onto the air field," said

program director Mike Peebles.

It's just one of the daily challenges for an expanding government agency that's charged with

working in and around one of the most extreme environments on the planet.

On the ice

The Office of Polar Programs is an arm of the federal National Science Foundation. Peebles'

office operates from a windowless building within the Space and Naval Warfare System Center

Atlantic's secured, chain-linked borders.

Inside, he and his crew toil amid a glowing backdrop of two wall-projected screens: One

illustrates the flight paths that crisscross in straight lines over Antarctica. The other

shows the radar-based weather pattern, helping the office monitor conditions and develop

forecasts.

The atmosphere is dark and subdued. Crackling with static, a voice from a distant cockpit

breaks the silence as a newly airborne crew checks in to report their progress. The aircraft

had taken off from McMurdo Station, a permanent U.S. research center on Ross Island. It looks

like a dusty mining town when it's not covered in snow.

With the help of technology, the air traffic control side of the program has gradually been

able to accomplish more and save the government more from North Charleston as opposed to

paying to shuttle personnel in and out of Antarctica. U.S. Navy officials first moved part of

the polar operation locally in 1986, and more functions have gradually relocated to the

region.

SPAWAR's top local military officer, Navy Capt. Bruce Urbon said he spent a week "on the ice"

three years ago to learn more about the operations there. He said the program is a departure

from the high-tech engineering projects that Systems Center Atlantic primarily focuses on.

"It's more a way to support the research community," Urbon said.