The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star (WAGB 10) crew departed Hobart, December 21, 2022, to begin their journey across the Southern Ocean en route to Antarctica in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2023.
The Polar Star’s Hobart port call was part of the crew’s annual deployment to Antarctica where they will support Operation Deep Freeze, a joint military service mission to resupply the United States Antarctic stations of the National Science Foundation, the lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program (USAP).
This year marks Polar Star’s 26th voyage to Antarctica. Every year, a joint and total force team work together to complete a successful Operation Deep Freeze season.
Military members from the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, and Navy work together through Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica to continue the tradition of providing U.S. military support. Operation Deep Freeze works closely with other Antarctic programs to include those of Australia, New Zealand, and Italy, as well as those Nations’ respective defense forces.
Leading up to and during the transit, the crew received training and prepared themselves to support this vital mission despite the austere environment.
Operation Deep Freeze is one of the more challenging U.S. military peacetime missions due to the harsh environment in which it is conducted. Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, most inhospitable continent on the globe, and each trip requires careful planning and coordination.
