Greetings, My name is LT Marshall Branch and I am an HH-65 helicopter pilot for the U.S. Coast Guard assigned to the Polar Operations Division. Our job is to provide aircraft to accompany Coast Guard Polar Icebreakers and the dozens of scientists they carry to the arctic and Antarctic regions. This fall, I will be joining the Coast Guard Cuter POLAR SEA on a 6-month deployment to Antarctica in support of the National Science Foundation. My job will be to fly scientists to remote locations for their field research, airlift supplies and equipment, and scout for ice pack fissures and first year ice to make the POLAR SEA's transit through 100 miles of ice to McMurdo Station on Ross Island a little easier. During this time, we will have email and a limited ability to transmit pictures through a satellite uplink. I would like to offer to correspond with teachers and their classes that are studying Antarctica, explorers such as Scott, Amundsen, and Shackleton, or have a general interest in what we will be doing. I am asking your help in getting the word out to potentially interested teachers. I can be reached at jbranch@atc.uscg.mil Thank you for your assistance. Sincerely, LT J. Marshall Branch USCG Aviation Training Center, Polar Operations Division
Dear LT J. Marshall Branch, My 4th grade is beginning the school year with a Scholastic Literacy Place book: "Discovery Teams." One of the stories is an exerpt from a biography about Matthew Henson and his trip to the North Pole. The next selection is a magazine article entitled: "Standing Up for Antarctica." It is about six students who explored Antarctica with Jacques-Yves Cousteau. I would be very interested in corresponding with you all in the second week or so of September. I have already set aside lesson times to write to you with both science questions and general questions. One of the focus points of our reading is to form opinions about the need for teams to work together. As a teacher, I love to achieve being a productive team at least some of our time in school. We will be faithful correspondents.
I just wanted to note that Mr. Branch contacted me by email and I posted his message here. If you want to communicate with him, you'll need to send an email to him directly.
