You must consider unusual geographic, climatic, and weather conditions when you plan and conduct airdrops. Extreme geographic and climatic conditions (such as polar, tropical, desert, marine, and mountainous) will drastically increase completion times of airdrop missions. Factors to consider when derigging and recovering air items in these unusual conditions, such as transportation difficulties, remote and limited facilities, and increased work completion time, are described in this chapter.
You must take the factors listed below into account when you plan and conduct derigging and recovery operations under polar conditions:
a. Weather Conditions. Both extreme cold and weather are overriding factors when you plan and conduct an operation in polar areas. The weather can change in a moment. Sudden changes from -10 degrees Fahrenheit, no wind, and unlimited visibility to -150 degrees Fahrenheit, 40 knot winds, and zero visibility are not uncommon. The weather phenomenon known as whiteout is an extreme danger to be considered in cold weather operations. Anyone caught unsheltered in a whiteout, probably will not survive.
b. Drop Zones. Because of weather conditions, aircraft may have to be guided exclusively by radio. Weather and solar activity (solar flares and sunspots) interfere with radio transmissions in arctic conditions. Recovery teams must be prepared for the possibility that they may have to recover airdrop items from other than the designated locations and drop zones. In the arctic all drop zones are unimproved. It is unusual to find a DZ free of snow, ice mounds, and pressure ridges (long ridges of ice pushed up when ice floes collide).
c. DZ Recovery. Due to temperature variations, a thawing and freezing process occurs when air items move from a warm environment (inside) to a cold environment (outside) and vice versa. Metal components and bolts on the airdrop loads and parachutes can freeze, and tools may be needed to loosen and remove the items. Each mission will require special tools to help with the recovery due to the extreme cold. Personnel will have to use wrenches to remove nuts and bolts, pliers to remove safety pins, and screwdrivers to pry frozen items apart. Once air items are recovered and moved to warm locations, the ice and snow melt and saturate them with water, which will damage the items unless personnel take care of them. With the weather being unpredictable and severe, under almost all conditions except whiteout, recovery teams must disconnect the parachutes and recover them immediately after the drop. Otherwise, the parachutes will become buried under snow, and recovering them without damage will be nearly impossible. The process of digging the parachutes out damages them. Polar conditions are extremely hard on personnel. Clothing required for the extreme cold severely limits movement and sight. Mission completion time will be lengthened accordingly.
d. Remote and Limited Facilities. In the polar regions, most airdrops take place in extremely remote locations. As a rule there will be no roads or rails to these locations, and the sites will have limited facilities. Because of these factors, any items that are determined to be not returnable, such as parachutes, burst fuel drums, honeycomb, and skid boards, should be consolidated and destroyed. The preferred way to destroy them is by burning. However, you must take environmental and tactical considerations into account.
e. Transportation Difficulties. Place recovered items individually in heavy-duty plastic bags for transport. Plastic bags prevent the spreading of contamination (from damaged fuel drum loads, for example), which is difficult to detect due to weather conditions. Recovery vehicles are often limited to sleds and snow vehicles which must make repeated shuttles. The repeated use of the same vehicles may contaminate airdrop equipment if plastic bags are not used.
f. Limitations of Air Delivery Method. Almost all heavy-volume supplies will be brought by airdrop. When personnel recover air items, usually the only way they can move them in polar conditions is by small, light aircraft. Therefore, the use of container delivery systems is the usual method of supply.
You must take the unique factors listed below into account when you plan and conduct derigging and recovery operations under tropical conditions:
These factors are typical of a tropical environment and can affect the completion time of an airdrop recovery mission.
You must take the unique factors listed below into account when you plan and conduct derigging and recovery operations under desert conditions:
These factors are typical of a desert environment and can affect the completion time of an airdrop recovery mission.
You must take the unique factors listed below into account when you plan and conduct derigging and recovery operations under marine conditions:
These factors are typical of a marine environment and can affect the completion time of an airdrop recovery mission.
You must take the unique factors listed below into account when you plan and conduct derigging and recovery operations under mountainous conditions:
These factors are typical of a mountainous environment and can affect the completion time of an airdrop recovery mission.