Operation Arctic Care

I was one of the artists for U.S. Air Force Art Program, and I had the honor of accompanying servicemen and servicewomen participating in Operation Arctic Care, which is an annual joint mission between Air Force, Army, and Navy to provide medical care to remote villages near Arctic Circle in Alaska.

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Here is my experience of Operation Arctic Care as told through my sketches - all the artwork was done on the spot with pen while I was observing the action, and I watercolored them later with a portable watercolor kit and water brush. Some of them were painted during the flight home - a good way to pass the time!

Operation Arctic Care is based in Kotzebue, Alaska. From there, the military personnel fly out to about a dozen outlying villages to perform medical checkups, and each team rotate among the villages in order to see as many people as possible. Clinics and dental offices in the villages are nicely equipped through government funding; the big obstacle is lack of doctors and healthcare professionals. Operation Arctic Care team comes here annually to give health checkups and perform medical procedures for the villagers, but patients with major medical issues have to be referred to the nearest big city of Anchorage - which is 550 miles (884 km) away!!

Kotzebue, Alaska (population: 3,135, temperature 20 degrees Fahrenheit/-7 degrees Celsius) is dramatically different from my hometown of Los Angeles, California (population: 3.8 million, temperature: 70 degrees Fahrenheit/21 degrees Celsius), even though they are both in the United States. I have gathered and borrowed all the winter clothing I could find, and after two stopovers (since there is no direct flight), I have arrived at snow-covered village - within a day, I was transported from second largest metropolis in the U.S. with year-round sunshine to one of the most remote areas of the country with harsh, long winter in the tundra.

Depending on the village, existing clinics were used for some medical procedures while rooms inside other buildings were used as makeshift exam areas. In Kotzebue, temporary optometry clinic was set up in the office inside the Coast Guard armory which also doubles as a courthouse. Durable and portable equipment were brought in, vintage office chairs and metal tables in the room were put to good use, and the Air Force team got to work.

This eye exam unit fits inside a heavy rolling suitcase.

Many patients are children, and medical personnel were very good at talking with them and their parents. This little boy relaxed and became curious after a bit, and started to play with eye exam instrument. (More detailed story is here.)

Here is a Navy nurse practitioner giving a gentle reminder to a teen patient to wear a helmet when riding snowmobiles.

Air transport is critical in bringing supplies and personnel because the roads are covered in snow and oceans and rivers are frozen most of the year. There is only one pharmacy in the area, so medicines are flown out from there to other villages. Weather is a crucial factor in delivery, too - the team at command and control center in Kotzebue were working on logistics and rescheduling because first batch of medical crew who went to furthermost village of Point Hope was stuck there due to bad weather for several days. Being flexible is part of the mission!

When weather conditions allowed the crew to fly, the Army readied its Blackhawk helicopters to deliver medical supplies and personnel to outlying villages of Noorvik and Kiana, and I was allowed to go for a ride. Blackhawk helicopter is built more for function than comfort - you wear earplugs to block out the engine noise, buckle down in 5-point harness seatbelt, and the smell of fuel permeates the cabin. My pen lines in this sketch came out a bit shaky among steady rumble inside the helicopter.

Since this aircraft has no radar (or, for that matter, there are no control towers in airfields here), the pilots must fly it visually, identifying landmarks by sight - which is very impressive since there is almost nothing except for white field of snow between villages. Lift off and landing is smoother than being on a commercial jet, since the bird (as the crew calls it) can move straight up and down without having to taxi down the runway to gain altitude. It is quite a sight to see a Blackhawk land on the ground - the roar of blades turning and plumes of snow flying are quite dramatic. Snowflakes that landed on my sketchbook made pen lines run a little bit in this sketch. This photo is of me sketching the Blackhawks at rest - you better move out of the way when they take off, because you'll be covered in snowshowers!

(I learned from my fellow artists on Urban Sketchers to use fingerless gloves when sketching in cold weather - the version I borrowed from my mom has flaps that turn them into mittens. They were very useful in below-freezing conditions!)

This was a fantastic experience for me to be able to witness what goes on "behind-the-scenes" in humanitarian efforts that most civilians like me wouldn't know. I enjoyed the camaraderie and have renewed respect for our troops who perform their job admirably and with good cheer. I think it's wonderful that Operation Arctic Care provides medical care for people in remote villages while giving the military an opportunity to train together to prepare for remote medical missions. I'm glad I was able to do a small part in document this event through my sketches, and am working on a finished artwork for Air Force Art Program presentation in October.