Capt. Rob Marshall, with the 8th Special Operations Squadron, and Capt. Graydon Muller, with the 6th SOS, will depart here tomorrow en route to the world's coldest continent, with the goal of scaling the 16,076-feet-high Vinson Massif. The captains believe that their task dovetails with the Air Force Special Operations Command's focus on physical fitness and its motto: “Any Time, Any Place.â€Â"We think it fits well with the military mindset," Muller said. "There's a lot of teamwork involved in mountaineering, a lot of goal-setting, a lot of risk management." The climb is part of the U.S. Air Force Seven Summits Challenge, whereby Air Force members endeavor to carry the Air Force flag to the highest point on each continent and to be the first U.S. military group to conquer all seven peaks. "The Seven Summits is about airmen setting a goal that some would think would be unobtainable and gutting it out to achieve it," Marshall said. "It's about camaraderie and pushing each other to achieve new heights." Air Force climbers have conquered Asia’s Mount Elbrus, at 18,510 feet; Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro, 19,340 feet; Argentina’s Mount Aconcagua, 22,834 feet, and Alaska's Mount McKinley, at 20,300 feet high. Antarctica’s remoteness, extreme temperatures and potential for hazardous winds make the endeavor uniquely challenging. Vinson Massif is part of the Ellsworth Mountains, which rise majestically and menacingly from the icy landscape. Largely due to its isolation, Mount Vinson was the last of the seven summits to originally be scaled. It was as recently as 1966 that an American team sponsored by the National Geographic Society first submitted the peak. The captains said transportation remains an obstacle to this day. "Probably the most significant hurdle we ran into was getting to Antarctica and close to the mountain," Marshall said. "There's only one commercial company in the world that flies you to Antarctica." Their route will bring them by way of Punta Arenas near the southernmost tip of Chile, the closest landmass at more than 600 nautical miles away. After two days of preparations in Chile, the airmen will fly to Antarctica's travel hub, Patriot Hills, the continent's only privately-owned arctic base. From there, they will take a ski-equipped turboprop aircraft to Vinson Massif's base camp. "The other option was to ride a boat to the coast, then ski or dogsled to the mountain," Muller said. "It's doable, but it takes so much more time." Antarctica is a land of extremes. Southeast from the continent's highest point is the world's lowest exposed elevation, the Bentley Sub-glacial Trench, which descends 8,200 feet below sea level. Approximately 98 percent of Antarctica's landmass is covered by a vast sheet of ice which measures, at its thickest, more than 15,000 feet. This frozen sheath gives Antarctica an average elevation of 6,100 feet above sea level, the highest of all seven continents. Marshall and Muller admit that the thought of entering Mother Nature's untamed lair is a bit intimidating, but say their experience in AFSOC has helped prepare them for operating in such harsh conditions. The captains met with Dr. (Maj.) Michael McBeth, the 6th SOS’s flight surgeon, who has seven years of medical experience working with personnel in a wide range of environments to include cold weather, and Tech. Sgt. Tommy Ward, a 6th SOS medical technician and paramedic, who recently returned from a training course in high-altitude medicine. "We primarily discussed altitude illness and recognition of symptoms, prevention and self-treatment, as well as safety of the member and providing care and assistance to teammates," McBeth said. "We also discussed frostbite recognition and treatment, which was one of the things they were really concerned about due to the extreme cold of this environment as compared to some of their other climbs." The medics also provided the captains with individually-tailored travel medicine kits and training on how to administer treatments for both minor issues and more serious conditions such as altitude-related illnesses. "The special training the medics have been through was extremely useful," Muller said. "They obviously have a wide range of experience with all kinds of environments. At the 6th SOS we almost always have people spread across the six populated continents, so our medical team is constantly ready for anything." Embracing the principle of "train like you fight," the captains have been stair climbing with 60-pound backpacks and towing a weighted kayak to simulate pulling a supply sled. "I think it's awesome you can train for a 16,000-foot arctic mountain living in Florida at sea level when it's 70-degrees in November, purely using the facilities available to us on base," Marshall said. The training is the final piece of a puzzle the Seven Summits team has been building for several years. "You need a lot of experience to go to Antarctica," Marshall said. "The fact that we had two experienced climbers stationed together who could handle the funding and the schedule; it was too good an opportunity to pass up." The Air Force mountain climbers won't be alone. Once in Antarctica, they will join a group of fellow mountaineering enthusiasts eager to scale Mount Vinson's summit. "We ended up getting support from a mountaineering mentor, who happened to be going down to Antarctica at this time," Marshall said. "He basically said, 'Team up with me!'" The mentor, Phil Ershler, has conquered the Seven Summits and was half of the first husband and wife team to accomplish the feat. But beyond the glory of achieving a daunting task, and what will perhaps be a greater driving force in the captains' success than their training and preparation, is a humble reminder of what unites them as AFSOC personnel, airmen and U.S. servicemembers. "[The Seven Summits] has become a tribute to the U.S. servicemembers who have fallen in battle since 9/11," Marshall said. "We'll be placing a plaque on the summit in their memory." The captains’ expedition is expected to take two to three weeks. Nov. 23, 2010: By Air Force Capt. Lauren Johnson- 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

After being the first woman to graduate from the Marines’ advisor training group program, McBride, from Wilmington, Del., will deploy with a team of six to teach and evaluate Afghan military logistician instructors in Kabul, Afghanistan.“It’s a good feeling,â€Â McBride said. “To be the first at anything is good, but to be the first female -- especially in the Marine Corps -- is just great.â€ÂBut it’s only the beginning for McBride and the rest of her team. After the Taliban takeover in 1996, Afghan women were not allowed to attend schools or work outside of their homes, making professional interaction with women an uncomfortable situation for some Afghan men. “The biggest challenge that I’m facing now is the reaction to me teaching a class,â€Â McBride said, recalling the lessons she received on Afghan culture during her training here. “I have been told they’re not going to take me seriously, and they’ll just get up and walk out of the classroom.â€Â McBride said she and her teammates gained an understanding of Afghan language and culture during their training. “Let’s just say I haven’t heard a lot of positive things as far as females being instructors, because the [Afghan] men do look at the women differently there,â€Â she said. “I’m going to show them that I’m just like the rest of the guys. I’m going to show them that, although I am a woman and I might do some things a little different, we’re all brothers and sisters. We are all here to help each other and to learn from each other,â€Â she continued, “So, hopefully, just because I’m a woman, they won’t take that away from me.â€Â McBride also received courses on Afghan etiquette and common challenges that advisors face, said Capt. Ben Lawless, a supply officer, instructor and assessor with the advisor training group. “I think they have done very well,â€Â Lawless said of his students. “They have shown a thorough understanding of how to use an interpreter while executing a class to a host-nation force.â€Â McBride, he said, is a professional who can surmount any challenge she encounters. “She’ll be able to handle it,â€Â Lawless said. Nov. 22, 2010: By Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew S. Avitt- Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms

Maj. Lisa Reaver, an Air Force reservist with the 477th Fighter Group here, was able to do both when she and a group of friends climbed Africa’s highest peak -- Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.“A teammate of mine from rugby did the climb a couple of years ago and said it was a life-changing experience,” Reaver said.Kilimanjaro’s highest point, Uhuru Peak, rises to an altitude of 19,341 feet above sea level, according to the CIA World Factbook.Reaver left Alaska Sept. 17 en route to her mountain-climbing quest with a group from the Global Alliance for Africa, a non-profit organization that benefits children orphaned by HIV and AIDS. The major said she was among the four people of her six-person group that were able to reach Uhuru Peak. “Mount Kilimanjaro does not look capable of such intensity, but just like the people that guided us up it, you can’t judge a book by its cover,” she said. “Those men are capable of carrying not just their pack, but yours too, on their head, just as Mount Kilimanjaro is capable of keeping people off its peak. It is harder than it looks.” Reaver said if she had to take one lesson away from her trip it would be, “You don't know what you are capable of until you’re put to the test.” The trip to Africa, she said, “was a challenge on a couple of fronts, mainly fundraising, as well as the climb. I'm not an expert in either area, and was pushed out of my comfort zone to accomplish both.” Reaver added, “I learned that I can rely on my friends and family, myself and my faith. Trusting in that, I can succeed at just about anything.” Nov. 19, 2010: By Air Force Airman 1st Class Jack Sanders- 3rd Wing Public Affairs  Redistributed by www.SupportOurTroops.org