The Arctic Field Party (1949-1951)

It seems ironic that in the early stages of the Cold War, the United States Government sent surveyors and hydrographic engineers to the coldest reaches of the North American continent. For these men, it was truly a Cold War. Field parties of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey were sent to survey sea routes through the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Sea as well as conduct geodetic surveys to help position Distant Early Warning system radars. These men toiled in obscurity beneath the midnight sun in summer and in the Arctic night of winter. This was dangerous difficult work in the interest of national security.