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Fairchild Airmen climb ice covered tower to retain communications

Published Feb. 23, 2011
By Senior Airman Natasha E. Stannard
92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

CALISPELL MOUTAINS, Wash. -- Fairchild transmission systems radio Airmen with the 92nd Communications Squadron work in their heated offices at their desks; however, they have another less comfortable workspace. This space is on top of a snow-covered mountain where the average temperature is nothing like their offices as it drops below zero.

These Airmen journey to the Calispell Mountain Peak in Cusick, Wash., to deice a radio tower that provides vital communications for training and rescue missions performed by the 336th Training Group and local law enforcement. When this tower is covered in ice it's impossible to make radio transmissions - transmissions needed to communicate in rescue operations.

"It's almost impossible to get a radio signal when the tower is encapsulated with ice," said Capt. Shelly Murray, 36th Rescue Squadron helicopter pilot.

"We share the tower with local law enforcement so essentially when we go to knock the ice off for the 336th Training Group were helping law enforcement out as well," said Senior Airman Zachary Airman Wagner, 92nd Communications Squadron transmission systems radio technician. "Someone could be hurt or dying out there and if they can't communicate there'd be no way to get them the help they need."

Each time they travel up the mountain they must go with their guide Todd Foster, 336th Training Group survival evasion resistance and escape specialist. He oversees communication maintenance for the Calispell SERE training area and is essential to the radio team's mission because the conditions on top of the peak are unpredictable. Mr. Foster is trained in driving the enclosed all-terrain vehicle that takes them up the snow deluged path, which he is familiar enough with that he it doesn't even need to be clear for him to know where he is going.

At first, there is usually a visible path but as they go higher on the peak it begins to disappear, which is when Mr. Foster's skills come into play.

"If we go past that tree it's about a 300 ft. drop," said Mr. Foster.

Along with the potential of falling 300 ft. off the side of a mountain, they navigate past various obstacles such as trees lying across the only trail to the tower by yanking them out of the way using the all-terrain vehicle.

On one of their trips, they made it up the snow concealed path and got stuck in the snow about a quarter mile away from the tower, but that didn't stop them.The three Airmen gathered their tools, equipment and safety gear, climbed out of the vehicle into sub-zero temperatures and dug their way to the icy tower in the foggy distance.

"Building the trail was nerve racking because we were almost at eye level with 70ft trees, so if the trail fell through that would not have been good," said Airman 1st Class Miklos Jeszensky, 92nd Communications Squadron transmission systems radio technician.

Once they made it to the tower, they found that the door to its control room, which houses the radio equipment used for rescue and training operations, was covered from top to bottom in snow. So again, they dug.

"That's where our actual radios are," said Airman Wagner. "We had to dig to the door to make sure the radios were still working and had full battery charge."

Without these radios, communication needed for life-saving and training missions would not be possible. After checking the radios were ready for use, the Airmen latched on their harnesses, put on safety gear and began scaling one side of the tower - the tower covered in four ft. of snow and ice all around.

"We knew it was a heavy winter and everything, but we weren't expecting the tower to be a chunk of ice," said Airman 1st Class Shawn Westbrook, 92nd Communications Squadron transmission systems radio technician. "Good thing I had my hard hat on, because a huge sheet of ice came down and hit me."

Their goal is to get the ice knocked off as quickly as possible, but with 20 mph bone-chilling winds, hypothermia is a real threat especially if they break into a sweat - while climbing nearly 120ft and hammering off chunks of ice to clear the entire tower. So the Airmen use creative techniques to get the ice knocked off quickly without climbing fast enough to sweat.

"We have to hang off the tower's ladder so we can hit the ice off with two hands," said Airman Westbrook. "You do everything you can to knock the ice off - like ninja kicks."

After twelve hours all the snow and ice was kicked, chopped and hacked off the tower, making all communication a-go for rescue and training operations.

"Around noon, SERE told us they retained communication - it's a lot easier to get communication without a sheet of ice," said Airman Jeszensky. "We're radio, we get it done."