 Hi I'm Major Amanda Coonrod. I am a member of the 109th Airlift Wing and Stratton Air National Guard Base, Scotia, New York. I am a navigator in the LC-130 and C-130 aircraft. They are the only ski-equipped airplane in the United States military and we support science exploration in both Greenland and Antarctica. What led up to Antarctica is that our base actually pretty much gained the mission fully around 1998-1999 and I happened to enlist in 2000. But big picture I didn't know that it was an Antarctic mission initially when I enlisted. I just wanted to go to tech school, go to college, get my degree, see where it would take me and over time I realized wow this is a really unique mission. No one else in the world does this. These are really unique airplanes and I wanted to be part of it. I went down to Antarctica for my first time in the year 2006-2007. It didn't disappoint. I like to say once you step off that aircraft you know the mountains that surround McMurdo Sound where we live are really majestic, just breathtaking. Pictures don't do justice. I felt special and I felt like I've really accomplished something here to get myself to this point in my life. It's been worth all of these years training and I can't wait to do this mission for so many people for so many years to come. It's been different as a parent. Before you know I could go as many weeks as I wanted to with not a really care in the world but now having a three-year-old and soon to be new born you know priority change slightly. I wrote a children's book in 2015 after my daughter Amelia was born and that was my way to mentally stay sane while I was away from my daughter. It's called Air Force Amanda Adventure in Antarctica and I hope it empowers other children to know that there are opportunities out there through the military that really can be an adventure in the world. There's something out there that there's a place in the world that maybe has never been touched by anyone else. Sometimes never been seen or found before and the military actually can bring you