Navy reservists from Military Sealift Command Pacific’s Expeditionary Port Unit (EPU) are conducting cargo operations in Port Hueneme, Calif. The team is overseeing the loadout of supplies and equipment being loaded onto the Military Sealift Command charter ship MV Ocean Giant in preparation for delivery to the remote Antarctica outpost of McMurdo Station, in support of the annual resupply mission; Operation Deep Freeze 2025.

Serving as liaisons between Ocean Giant’s crew and Military Sealift Command, the EPU reservists are overseeing the loadout of 327 pieces of cargo. The cargo, consists of containers filled with mechanical parts, vehicles, construction materials, office supplies and electronics equipment, and mobile office unites; supplies needed for the year’s survival at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. In addition to the containers of cargo, 24 foot pieces, that will make up a 65-ton floating Marine Causeway System will also be loaded onto Ocean Giant. The causeway will replace the ice-pier this year, at McMurdo Station. Previously, an ice pier made up of rebar and frozen seawater, has been used for cargo offloads. Due to sever damage, the ice-pier is unusable this year. Once in Antarctica, the causeway will be assembled in sections on Ocean Giant’s deck and placed into the water. Sections will be attached to the one another to form the final pier.

While the EPU team will not work on Christmas Day, they will be working on Christmas Eve, and the days after the holiday. This will take them away from their families, in support of the mission, but according to Master-at-Arms Chief Petty Officer, Jennifer Smith, EPU officer-in-charge, making the sacrifice to be away from family during the holidays to support the mission, is something the team has taken on willingly.

“We are all excited to be here and supporting this mission,” Smith said. “We are here as volunteers. No one forced us to be here. We are happily making the sacrifice to miss Christmas with our families, so other members of the EPU can be with theirs.”

Ocean Giant will depart Port Hueneme before the New Year. Following a stop in Christchurch, New Zealand, where the ship will load additional cargo, it will travel to McMurdo Station, where members of Navy Cargo Handling Battalion ONE will conduct the offload. Before departing McMurdo station, Ocean Giant will be loaded retrograde cargo will be loaded onto the ship for transportation off the continent. This includes trash and recyclable materials for disposal and equipment no longer required on the station.

Operation Deep Freeze is a joint service, on-going Defense Support to Civilian Authorities mission in support of the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF is the lead agency for the United States Antarctic Program. Mission support consists of active duty, Guard and Reserve personnel from the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Army, and Coast Guard as well as Department of Defense civilians and attached non-DOD civilians. ODF operates from two primary locations situated at Christchurch, New Zealand and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. MSC-chartered ships have made the challenging voyage to Antarctica every year since the station and its resupply mission were established in 1955.