Did you knwo what life was like on T-3?

What Was "Everyday Life" Like On The Ice Island, T-3?

Maintaining a drifting station like T-3 required a capable and adaptable crew. Life on T-3 for the non-scientists could be an enriching experience. William Shellman, one of 13 airmen on T-3, was a heavy equipment operator who kindly provided us with details of his experience.

In the winter of 1956, Shellman arrived on T-3 to begin four months of duty. On landing in polar darkness, howling wind, and temperatures well below freezing, his first thought was "How can a mere human being exist in such a terrible place as this?" Before he had even reached the sanctuary of the mess hall, he was knocked down by a "beast" that turned out to be Tramp, the canine station mascot, acting out a traditional initiation ceremony. After this rough beginning, Tramp and Shellman became fast friends.

Shellman was one of two bulldozer operators at the station. These men also served as mechanics and base engineers. Shellman's primary tasks were to keep the runway in good working order, and to plow snow into a "snow melter" that provided all the water for the station. Plowing the powdery snow was accomplished with considerable difficulty.

Because of the intense cold Shellman kept his bulldozer running 24 hours a day, since it would have been impossible to start again had it been shut down. In the spring, he used the bulldozer to move the camp's metal trailers to the safety of ground level from the top of the hills on which they became perched as the snow and ice melted around them.

The men enjoyed high living standards. They lived in warm, insulated trailers, and had weekends off, unless an aircraft was scheduled to land. The planes brought the diesel fuel upon which the station depended, as well as mail and food. Shellman fashioned steel drums from discarded fuel barrels, and took advantage of his spare time on T-3 to learn about meteorology and ham radio. Games, books, and the latest movies were other forms of entertainment. Everyone got a weekly hour-long phone call by ham radio. Food was plentiful and of good quality, both in order to keep morale high, and to provide the calories needed to work in extreme cold.

Life on the station was not all routine, however. An exciting incident occurred when the scientists were threatened by a polar bear about 3 kilometers from the main camp. One of them shot the bear. The crew of T-3 feasted on the meat and the skin became a rug. Incidentally, disposing of a polar bear in this fashion is no longer permitted.

Shellman retained enthusiasm for "working conditions that demanded his all in performance," in spite of enduring severe frostbite to his right hand. His time on the station changed his life by provoking a profound respect for the sacrifices of early polar explorers. In a sense, this respect was returned to Shellman, an African American, as he found himself for the first time in an environment where skin color seemingly did not matter: the extreme conditions and relative isolation of the station made reliably high performance of duty the only criterion for respect.