A C-130 flown by airmen from the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing takes off from Canadian Forces Station Alert on Ellsmere Island, Nunavut, after dropping off supplies on Sept. 30, 2019. Courtesy photo via USAF.
The New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing recently wrapped up a mission flying cargo to Canada’s northernmost base, a small alert site on the northern tip of Nunavut.
The C-130s and guardsmen flew seven missions from Sept. 26 to Oct. 4 to Canadian Forces Station Alert, transferring more than 100,000 pounds of cargo, according to a Guard release.
The Canadian base is 490 miles south of the North Pole, where 55 personnel live year-round in the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world.
The C-130 missions were flown from Thule AB, Greenland, and crews experienced freezing fog, low visibility, and high winds, according to the release.
The mission, called Operation Boxtop, takes place twice a year and this iteration also included a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17.