Airmen with the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing load cargo onto an LC-130 Skibird on Oct. 17, 2017, before taking off from Stratton Air National Guard Base, Scotia, N.Y., to begin the journey to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. This is the 30th season that the unit will participate in Operation Deep Freeze, the military component of the U.S. Antarctic Program, which is managed by the National Science Foundation. (U.S. Air National photo by Senior Master Sgt. William Gizara)