Air Force Magazine:

At Thule Air Base, Greenland, 695 miles north of the Arctic Circle, the ice has broken, and the once-yearly resupply and construction season has begun under 24 hours of daylight. Renovations have begun on half-century-old dormitories, and favorite sundries such as Lucky Charms cereal keep morale high for the 141 Airmen and Guardians who help to assure America is safe from attack over the polar ice cap.

A heavy fog permeated the base on a recent afternoon, delaying outbound flights during the busy transition season when service members rotate after a one-year stint at the northernmost Air Force base in the world and one of its most austere operating locations. But with the summer ice thaw, the base’s port is accessible to supply ships for a short three-month window.

Airmen and Guardians at Thule balance the responsibilities that come with a vital missile warning and missile defense mission with the mental resiliency required to sustain minus-12-degree average winter temperatures in total darkness, or days at a time indoors during deadly snowstorms between September and May that sometimes give little warning before a mandatory shelter-in-place…

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