PORTLAND, Ore. – Oregon Air National Guard Director of Staff, Col. Christopher Lantagne has finished a six week tour as the commander of the 13th Air Expeditionary Group at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The 13th AEG supports the National Science Foundation, which is the lead agency at Mcmurdo.

“I’ve done a lot of cool things, but this is just so unique. Trying to operate here and seeing what this continent is about,” Lantagne said. “I just consider myself lucky to be one of the few that get to set foot in Antarctica and actually go see the south pole.”

The 13th AEG provides logistical support for the research United States scientists conduct in Antarctica, which requires a team of motivated professionals to accomplish. The 109th Airlift Wing out of New York flies a modified C-130 fitted with skis that allow it to take off and land on the icy continent.

“The [Lockheed] LC-130 is an old airplane and we are operating it in a really austere location,” said Lantage. “Parts are hard to get, so it takes a lot of TLC from the operations and maintenance team here to work. So they’re just all working their tails off to make this mission happen here.”

During his tour, Lantagne served as the senior U.S. military officer on the continent, overseeing a joint team of Army, Navy and Coast Guard partners working to support Operation Deep Freeze, a presidentially directed joint-operation to establish an active and influential presence in Antarctica.

Being so far from home during holidays was made easier by the hundreds of service members and the townsfolk calling Antarctica their temporary home.

“I’ve been in the military a long time. Missed a lot of birthdays, holidays,” said Lantagne. “You’re never used to it. Everybody worked on Thanksgiving, but the following Saturday, the whole town here at McMurdo, which is about 1,000 to 800 people, took Saturday off and the dining facility made just this massive Thanksgiving feast.”

While thousands of miles away from their loved ones, the team made the best of the situation.

“When you deploy, you make new friends wherever you go, and we had a good family environment here and celebrated a nice day together.”

Beyond spending time with his military comrades, Lantagne also enjoyed the local wildlife; minus the penguins.

“There’s lots of seals here, I’m looking out of my window and I can see four seals laying on the ice outside, but the penguins need the ice to be broken, they probably won’t be in here in force until after I’m gone, unfortunately.”

Ultimately, pulling together minds from across the United States has led to success for the team.

“Most of the team here comes from the 109th Airlift Wing (New York Air National Guard) but a lot of my very close staff tend to be augmentees from all around the [country]said Lantagne.“Oregon is a great state and we do great work there, but it’s always good to mix it up with peers from around the country and hear how other states are doing it. All together, I think we’ve come together as a good team and are supporting the overall mission well.”

All good things must come to an end though. Luckily for Lantagne, he was able to make it home just before Christmas, but unfortunately, the weather back home was not quite the same.

“My wife was telling me she can’t wait to have me home to hear me complain about all the rain. I definitely think I get seasonal depression in Oregon when it gets six months of grey, so to come down here, even though it’s cold, the sun is out almost every day and it’s light 24/7.”