GUARDIANS OF THE GREAT LAKES & OCEANS

 
Our speaker today was CDR Greg Matyas, Commanding Officer of Air Station Traverse City. He assumed Command in July, 2015.  This Air Station is one of the oldest air units in the Coast Guard.  It has proudly served the nation and the citizens of the Great Lakes since 1946. The unit consists of 120 active duty and civilian personnel, approximately 40 Coast Guard Auxiliarists, and 220 dependents.  Air Station Traverse City operates a fleet of four MH-65D helicopters executing Homeland Security and Maritime safety missions throughout Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and the northern half of Lake Huron.  CDR Matyas graduated from The Coast Guard Academy in 1996 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.  His Coast Guard duty has taken him to Washington, Flight Training at NAS Pensacola, Air Station Miami FL ( where he deployed throughout the Caribbean in support of search and rescue, as well as counter drug and migrant efforts), Alabama, Hawaii, California, and now Michigan.  
CDR Matyas showed us pictures and described a mission he took from Seattle, WA to McMurdo Station, Antarctica in 2005.  He was aboard the Polar Star which is the Coast Guards heavy Icebreaker.  They also have a medium icebreaker.  We were told the Coast Guard does three types of ice missions. They do Domestic Icebreaking, International Ice Patrol, and Polar Operations.  The Polar Star can go thru 6' of ice at 5mph.  The purpose of the mission was to escort two cargo ships thru the ice to McMurdo Town.  One ship brings supplies and the other brings fuel.  This occurs once per year.  McMurdo Town generally has 1200 people in the summer but only 200 in the winter.  It's the home base for a National Science Foundation.  The people who work there are scientists, carpenters, electricians, cooks, and people who don't want to be found.  The summer temperature is a warm –27F while in the winter it can be –133F.  NO THANKS!!! 
CDR Matyas showed us pictures of both airplanes and helicopters on an ice runway that exists in this desolate area.  Penquins are in abundance as are a small species of Killer Whales.  One picture showed a Small Killer Whale playing with a piece of ice, flipping it from place to place.  While there, CDR Matyas took a 3 hour plane trip to the South Pole Station.  He showed us both the old and the new South Pole Stations.  The new one has the ability to be raised when the snow depth increases.  He also showed us pictures of early explorer huts that were built between 1901 and 1904.  Everything in them is exactly the same today as it was then.  The cold preserves thing well. 
Great talk, CDR.