VX-6 traces its roots to
Operation Highjump (1946–1947), the fourth
Antarctic expedition conducted by United States Navy Rear Admiral
Richard Evelyn Byrd. That expedition set out in December 1946 to conduct an extensive
aerial survey of Antarctica, using
Martin PBM Mariners based in the
pack ice of the
Ross Sea, as well as land-based R4D Dakotas (
Dakota, from the acronym "DACoTA" for
Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft, was the designation used by the United States Navy to refer to the
Douglas C-47 Skytrain). By the time Operation Highjump was concluded in late February 1947, the team had mapped about of coastline and of the interior of the continent.
Operation Deep Freeze I and II On 1 February, Task Force 43 was activated to plan Antarctic operations scheduled to begin in the fall under the code name
Operation Deep Freeze, with Captain
George J. Dufek as commanding officer. Dufek would remain as commanding officer through Operation Deep Freeze IV, which concluded in 1959. The mission of Task Force 43 was to provide all the logistical support necessary for the successful U.S. participation in the upcoming
International Geophysical Year (1957–8). More specifically, this meant that Task Force 43 was responsible for the construction of airstrips and
iceports and the establishment of bases on Antarctica that would enable scientists to conduct geophysical studies upon that continent. VX-6 made its first deployment at that time as part of Task Force 43 (the
logistics arm of Operation Deep Freeze). That first season, VX-6 completed nine long-range exploratory flights. The squadron also transported people and materials necessary for the construction of
Little America Base Camp, the Naval Air Operations Facility on
Hut Point Peninsula (
Ross Island), the first South Pole Station (now referred to as "
Old Pole"), and assisted in the establishment of four other bases on the continent. On 20 December 1955, two
Lockheed P2V-2 Neptunes and two R5D Skymasters (R5D was the designation used by the United States Navy to refer to the
Douglas C-54 Skymaster) established the first air link between Antarctica and New Zealand with a flight from Christchurch to McMurdo Station. Following its return from Operation Deep Freeze I in February 1956, VX-6 was relocated to
Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island.
Naval Construction Battalion Center Davisville, the site of manufacture of the first
Quonset huts, was also located at Quonset Point. NCBC Davisville was the home of
Naval Construction Battalion 200, which had been established to perform the construction of any facilities required by the United States Antarctic Program. drew the first rendition of "Puckered Pete", a cartoon character which later became the unofficial mascot of VX-6. On 31 October 1956, during Operation Deep Freeze II,
Qué Será Será, a ski-equipped R4D Dakota piloted by LCDR
Conrad S. Shinn, became the first plane to land at the South Pole. The seven United States Navy men (RADM
George J. Dufek, CAPT
William M. Hawkes, LCDR
Conrad S. Shinn, AD2
John P. Strider, and AT2
William A. Cumbie Jr.) aboard that aircraft were the first to stand at this spot in 44 years, the last being
Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated
Terra Nova Expedition in January 1912. RADM Dufek had chosen LCDR Shinn and his flight crew to attempt the landing, which was an extraordinary undertaking since the South Pole was almost above sea level where the aircraft engines would operate considerably below their optimum power levels. In addition it was expected that extremely cold conditions could be expected on the surface. The landing party remained at the South Pole for only 49 minutes, setting up navigational aids to assist the future delivery of materials and equipment for constructing a scientific observation station at the spot. Also in 1956, an R4D Dakota delivered the first group of 11
Seabees and 11 dog sleds, together with tents and other equipment to the South Pole, to begin construction of the first
South Pole Station. arrived at Naval Air Facility McMurdo Station from Christchurch aboard an R5D Skymaster piloted by LCDR J. A. Henning of VX-6. This first flight of the season marked the operational implementation of Operation Deep Freeze V. then flew on to Byrd Station to pick up Kuperov, while the other stood by in Christchurch. The total distance flown during this rescue mission was just under 13000 miles. and carrying RADM
James R. Reedy (Commander, U.S. Naval Support Force Antarctica from November 1962–April 1965) among its passengers, made the flight from McMurdo Station, beyond the South Pole to the
Shackleton Range and then southeastward to the
pole of inaccessibility before returning to McMurdo Station; the duration of this journey was 10 hours and 40 minutes. Also in February 1963, VX-6 completed the first delivery of bulk fuel by a Lockheed LC-130 Hercules. of VX-6, completed a round-trip flight from Christchurch to Antarctica in an emergency evacuation of petty officer B. L. McMullen, critically injured in a fall. As in the earlier medical evacuation of 1961, two planes, with teams of medical specialists on board, flew from NAS Quonset Point to Christchurch where one plane stood by while the other undertook the hazardous flight. of VX-6, returned to Christchurch after a flight to McMurdo Station to evacuate UT-2 Robert L. Mayfield, who had been critically injured in a fall. It was the third emergency air evacuation from Antarctica during the winter night. On 1 January 1969, VX-6 was redesignated Antarctic Development Squadron Six (VXE-6). In June 2009, Fifteen U.S. citizens were presented the
New Zealand Special Service Medal(Erebus) for their work in the body recovery, victim identification and crash investigation phases of Operation Overdue, and resulting from the TE 901 crash. Those receiving the medal included LCDR Reedy Buford, CDR William Andre Coltrin, CDR Paul Richard Dykeman, LCDR
William F. Ferrell, LCDR John K. Goodrum, PHAN Charles (Chuck) Hitchcock, PH2 Richard L. Horton, ENS George Mixon, CAPT Victor Louis Pesce, CWO Choyce Prewitt, and AD2 Brian Jon Vorderstrasse.
1980s–1990s In 1988, another medical evacuation to the South African National Antarctic Expedition (
SANAE) Station at
Vesleskarvet nunatak broke the record for time and distance in a single Antarctic flight. Another highlight of the 1988 season was the recovery of an LC-130 Hercules that had been buried in ice and snow since its crash in 1971 near
Dumont d'Urville Station. That aircraft was fully restored and operated with VXE-6 until its disestablishment in 1999. In 1990, VXE-6 moved almost 8,000 passengers and over 6 million pounds of cargo which included five resupply flights to Vostok Station. That year, VXE-6 also accomplished the first wheeled landing of an LC-130 Hercules on a
blue ice surface near
Beardmore Glacier. On 25 October 1991, the first all-female crew took an LC-130 Hercules to "open up" Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. 1993 saw VXE-6 break many records, including the transportation of nearly 9.4 million pounds of cargo and fuel. On 3 February 1996, during the squadron's 40th annual deployment to Antarctica, the squadron conducted its last helicopter mission in Antarctica. The helicopter component of VXE-6 was formally disestablished in April 1996. 1997 marked the beginning of a three-year program designed to transition United States Department of Defense long-range logistic support for the Antarctic Program from the U.S. Navy to the U.S. Air Force, specifically the
New York Air National Guard (NYANG). 1998 was marked by the delivery of materials necessary to begin the construction of the new South Pole Station, completed in 2005. Beginning in 1997, responsibility for long-range logistical support of Operation Deep Freeze was transferred from the VXE-6 squadron to the
109th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard (NYANG). The transition was planned over a three-year period to avoid any negative impact on operations and to ensure a complete transfer of knowledge from the U.S. Navy unit to the NYANG. During the 1996/1997 season, VXE-6 operated six aircraft and was augmented by aircraft of the NYANG. VXE-6 operated five aircraft during the 1997/1998 season, and the number of flight hours was divided roughly equally between VXE-6 and the NYANG. The United States Air Force, via the 109th Airlift Wing of the
Air National Guard, officially took over responsibility as the primary Department of Defense partner for the National Science Foundation in support of the U.S. Antarctic Program at the beginning of the 1998/1999 season. A new organization, Detachment 13, was formed to manage the overall support from the Department of Defense. The detachment replaced the NSFA organization. The main organizations under Detachment 13 were the 109th Airlift Wing of the NYANG, the Navy’s VXE-6 squadron, and Aviation Technical Services. For the 1998/1999 season, the six LC-130s of the NYANG were augmented by only three LC-130 aircraft of the VXE-6 squadron. Operation Deep Freeze 1999 was VXE-6's last deployment season in support of the United States Antarctic Program. On 24 February 1999, following the closure of Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station's summer operations, the last three LC-130R Hercules from VXE-6 returned to Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California. The squadron was disestablished on 1 April 1999. Over the course of its existence, VXE-6 logged more than 200,000 flight hours in direct support of United States interests (primarily scientific research) in the Antarctic. The squadron transported more than 195,000 passengers, delivered over 240 million pounds of dry cargo and nearly 10 million gallons of fuel to numerous sites throughout Antarctica. ==Aircraft==