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Transcript/ScriptUS ALASKA AIRBASE CHALLENGES (TV)
HEADLINE: With New F-35s, Remote Alaska Base Protects Most ‘Strategic Place in the World’
TEASER: Eielson’s 180 Degree Turn from Closure-Bound to Booming Combat Base
PUBLISHED AT: Wednesday 06/22/2022 at 525p
BYLINE: Carla Babb
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska
VIDEOGRAPHER: Mike Burke
VIDEO EDITOR: Mike Burke
SCRIPT EDITORS: Newhouse, Bowman
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, DOD
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:10
VID APPROVED BY: Jepsen
TYPE: VPKGN
EDITOR NOTES:))
[[ANCHOR]]
((The United States military has spent hundreds of millions of dollars upgrading a remote northern airbase in Alaska near the Arctic Circle. Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb recently visited the base which houses billions of dollars' worth of combat aircraft that can reach anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere.))
((THEN NAT OF PLANE TAKING OFF))
((“READY TO GO AT 50 BELOW!”—NAT SAID BY STU))
((NARRATOR))
That’s the motto at Eielson Air Force Base, ((Courtesy DOD)) where temperatures hit -50 degrees Fahrenheit in winter and soar to 80 degrees Fahrenheit or 26 degrees Celsius in summer.
((Col. Stuart Williamson, US Air Force))
“We have challenges just keeping that equipment running, because it was never designed to work in temperatures that are so extreme.”
((NARRATOR))
Fortunately for the Air Force, there’s one thing that works great in cold weather: giant supercomputers.
((MSGT Brian Bucholtz, US Air Force))
“So believe it or not, the aircraft themselves, like you said are supercomputers right? Computers operate really well in the cold. However, the cold brings a lot of challenges as far as just taxiing aircraft on the flight line as well”//-40 below is quite the experience when it comes to tow jobs, even touching metal outside, burns your hands like it's absolutely insane.”
((NARRATOR))
And even with proper clothing, at around -20, aircrews can only stay outside 10 minutes before having to warm up inside 50 minutes.
((MSGT Brian Bucholtz, US Air Force))
“So an hour’s job takes six people what would normally take one person to do in an hour.”
((NARRATOR))
Spring and summer bring their own extremes. During our visit, thawing snow turned the base into a swamp, the sound of pumps competing with the jet engines.
"You're looking at about just over 100,000 parts of the F-35."
Lt. Col. Adam Starkey runs logistics.
((Lt. Col. Adam Starkey, US Air Force))
“This has certainly been the most challenging job I've had in the Air Force. // “It's been a big learning curve, putting F-35s into the Arctic, and figuring out what those challenges are.”
((NARRATOR))
There’s a saying everyone at Eielson knows from the godfather of the Air Force. In 1935, Gen. Billy Mitchell told Congress, “Whoever holds Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important, strategic place in the world.”
More than 85 years later, Eielson’s expansion amid arctic extremes illustrates how the state continues to be a linchpin of America’s defense.
((CARLA BABB, VOA NEWS Eielson AFB, Alaska))
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