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Log Book Headed due north, many of the crew tried to catch some sleep in the belly of the C-130 but the roar of the engines and the icy air made it tough. This would be the first time a Coast Guard unit ever deployed to the isolated Prudhoe Bay where the Trans-Alaska Pipeline begins and where their mission awaits. They’re here to see if it’s possible to establish a security zone in such a harsh environment and weather is only part of the challenge. The plane landed without event, but they were still a bumpy hour-long drive from where they were staying. The massive oil pipeline paralleled their passenger van as it barreled down a road that was really just rocks and mud. Outside the windows a few sick-looking foxes were lying in the fields of brown grass. The crew’s classroom manuals said that roughly 80 percent of these Arctic foxes are infected with rabies, another reminder of the dangerous environment here. A few days earlier their boats were delivered by the same C-130 that brought them here. So when they arrived at their floating quarters, a barge with small boxy rooms stacked on it like shipping containers, half the mission was complete. With the 600-mile trip through air and across rough roads to the edge of the Arctic Ocean over with, the second half of the mission, establishing the security zone, was still ahead of them. It would not be easy. Even though it was August, the 30-degree air temperature didn’t feel like summer. Biting 35-knot winds would push the limits of their boats and them. “There is nothing to block the wind from any direction,” said BM1 Jason Roberts, a coxswain at the MSST. He explained that this makes it unpredictable and causes waves to build up on one side of the boat. It’s an even more dangerous situation since the bay is mostly uncharted shoals with no aids to navigation. Day two began early as the crews readied the boats for getting underway: attaching gun mounts, running safety checks and loading equipment. But two of the crew were left with the most important job – bear watch. “Armed only with a can of bear spray…I was not scared but rather eager to see a polar bear,” said MST2 Owen Dicks, another member of the MSST crew. “Given the lack of trees and wide open The Edge of the World Story by PA3 Victoria Bonk, Imagery “Polar bears will stalk humans,” warned the instructor in a serious tone. Two Coasties sitting at the back of the classroom turn to each other with wide eyes. Hungry polar bears are common on the desolate and deadly North Slope of Alaska where this crew from MSST Anchorage is headed. On this trip they’ll blaze a trail to waters no Coast Guardsman has sailed before at... 40 Coast Guard — Issue 4, 2008