Antarctica - Winter 2014

[Mike K]

Being on the DOD travel team, I've probably had everything but the psych test lol. We have to do all the same stuff to do our deployments to SWA.

That really puts you to an advantage. Once you get through the interview process, the rest will be down hill for you, because you already know that you will pass all of the medical and dental and you already have experience working overseas. The psych exam is looking for the obvious: depression, unresolved mommy/daddy issues, aggression, fear of darkness, etc. It is pretty obvious what they are looking for and why.

Your only concern now would be, assuming you are thinking about applying right now, going down for a winter without having any summer experience. Like I said earlier in the thread, it isn't like you can quit 2 months in.

[JC316]

That looks awesome if you can handle it. In my case, thats a whole lot of nope. I'm freezing my ass off in this weather and I would probably go all Jack Torrance on someones ass if I had to stay in the dark for 4 months. I'm not sure they would even let me go due to my crohn's disease.

[reo]

Just wondering, but how is the pay set up? For example, you mentioned for your position the pay is roughly $60k/yr, you mean that is the rate for how ever many months you are down there or what? Also, who foots the bill to get you there and back?

-Eric

[Mike K]

That looks awesome if you can handle it. In my case, thats a whole lot of nope. I'm freezing my ass off in this weather and I would probably go all Jack Torrance on someones ass if I had to stay in the dark for 4 months. I'm not sure they would even let me go due to my crohn's disease.

Yeah, crohn's disease is going to be a problem. I am not sure if it will disqualify you or not, but the food there might not be the best. You have to think about not having any fresh food (no flights in or out).

Just wondering, but how is the pay set up? For example, you mentioned for your position the pay is roughly $60k/yr, you mean that is the rate for how ever many months you are down there or what? Also, who foots the bill to get you there and back?

-Eric

You get paid every other week and I would make about $60k if I worked a whole year. If you only work 6 months, half that. PAE pays for your travel from your home of record to Antarctica. They also pay for all of your medical and dental procedures, but you have to foot the initial bill.

[JC316]

Yeah, crohn's disease is going to be a problem. I am not sure if it will disqualify you or not, but the food there might not be the best. You have to think about not having any fresh food (no flights in or out).

Food isn't an issue with me, but the nature of the disease is the issue. Could strike at any time. Within a 3 month span, I can go from working hard to being in the hospital. Thats why I keep my happy ass near medical care and continue to wrench on cars.

[reo]

That's actually not a bad deal considering the experience of doing something not alot of people get to do. It would be pretty cool to say you've been there. Tempted to put in a application to see if I would even qualify.

-Eric

[Mike K]

Food isn't an issue with me, but the nature of the disease is the issue. Could strike at any time. Within a 3 month span, I can go from working hard to being in the hospital. Thats why I keep my happy ass near medical care and continue to wrench on cars.

Ahh ok, I don't know much about crohn's disease. I had a friend in Qatar that had it and all I know is that he could only eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Anything else and he would be in the bathroom all day.

That's actually not a bad deal considering the experience of doing something not alot of people get to do. It would be pretty cool to say you've been there. Tempted to put in a application to see if I would even qualify.

-Eric

Go for it! What do you do for a living anyway?

[JC316]

Ahh ok, I don't know much about crohn's disease. I had a friend in Qatar that had it and all I know is that he could only eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Anything else and he would be in the bathroom all day.

I have a fairly weird case of it, most people are like that. Can't handle certain foods.

[reo]

I'm a parts guy at the moment, but I was a mechanic while in the Texas Army National Guard, did a lot of preventative maintenance and light repairs on our vehicles and equipment on both my deployments and overseas training missions. Also did some PM stuff for a oil field contract company for a bit. I checked the website, seems like the light mechanic would be what I'd be applying for if I was to go for it. Only downside I can think of is what to do afterwards.

-Eric

[fastwhite99gt]

What kind of shifts do you work? 5 8's, 4 10's, all 12's?

[Mike K]

My new hire packet claims 9hrs a day 6 days a week. I am REALLY looking forward to a 54hr week; these 84hr weeks really take their toll! I also have a feeling that winter work schedules will be a little relaxed... assuming that we are getting all of the work done.

[dsrtuckteezy]

so, what are yall doing down there exactly? what is the base for?

[Mike K]

To support the National Science Foundation (NSF) conduct science. I don't know all of the details, but the NSF provides grants to scientists to go down and do research on all kinds of stuff. PAE provides support so the science can get done. I am a heavy equipment mechanic, so I fix all of the heavy equipment used to maintain the station and the air fields. It takes a lot of work to constantly groom the ice runways (which is on on frozen ocean and constantly moving). The scientists also use vehicles to travel out to their areas to conduct their science.

One scientists might be doing a study on fish that do not freeze. So his little minions (mostly college students who are down there to help and learn) drive out to BFE on the frozen ocean, drill a big hole in the ice and start fishing until they catch some fish to dissect. If their vehicle breaks, somebody has to fix it.

I have met students from MIT doing research for robotic equipment for NASA. Global warming is a popular type of research. The hole in the ozone makes it a GREAT place to have a large telescope to look into space (south pole) etc. All kinds of stuff going on.

PAE provides 100% support, so they have carpenters, plumbers, electricians, generator techs, mechanics, chefs, etc. Most of the science is done in the summer. The winter skeleton crew is just there to keep things going and to take care of some long-term projects that would otherwise be too difficult to do during the hustle and bustle of the summer season. The winter crew consists of about 80-100 people and that number will increase to about 1,000 during the summer months.

[stephen4785]

I watched a Modern Marvels episode that talked about this building. They said it actually jacks itself up during the winter to keep the snow from covering up the building.

[Danny46]

I would definitely be interested in something like this. Had a buddy that was down there as a fire fighter and he had a good time. He is actually a big fisherman and said that when they had left over fish from their experiments, that they would eat it…and that it was the best tasting cleanest fish he'd ever had. How would one go about trying to find a position to fit in?