Operation Deep Freeze

 “Operation Deep Freeze” has become a general term for US operations in Antarctica, in particular for the regular missions to resupply US Antarctic base.

November 1957 – Operation Deep Freeze III

”To start with, pilots often had difficulty distinguishing the ice runway from the surrounding snow. As a result, several aircraft initially touched down short of the runway, adding additional stress on the aircraft. To help alleviate this during DEEP FREEZE III, one of the first C‑124s, on 30 October, carried in 25 small evergreen trees, 4 to 6 feet in height. Navy Seabees “planted” these trees in double rows at the end of the runway as markers , thus providing a better contrast between the runway and the surrounding snow. To be honest, the Navy pilots of VXE‑6 Squadron wanted to use the Navy’s approach of using oil drums, some painted black and some bright orange to mark the runway. However, in their work in the Arctic, the 63 TCW had found that trees worked better because the moving branches could sometimes be seen in a severe snowstorm where even brightly colored stationary objects could become invisible. As the Navy and Air Force debated the decision, Colonel William G. Forwood, Commander, Air Force Task Unit, ordered the trees sent from New Zealand. While the Navy Seabees installed 24 trees as runway markers.”

Excerpted from

Wallwork, E. D., Wilcoxson, K. A., & United States. (2006). Operation Deep Freeze: 50 years of US Air Force airlift in Antarctica, 1956-2006. Scott Air Force Base, Ill: Office of History, Air Mobility Command.

Wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Deep_Freeze

The attached image was shot in 1997, to see the image of the trees go to the page 18 in the publication.

This image was a personal photo shot by C-141 Flight Engineer SMSgt Bob Pederson in October of 1997. It was a rare moment that the penguins would come so close to the aircraft on the ice runway at McMurdo.

PD USA / https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:C-141_Starlifter_with_penguins.jpg