New Delhi, Dec 24: The chief of army staff-designate Lt Gen N C Vij today flagged off a 13-member army team for the 22nd Antarctic expedition. The team, headed by Captain Kumar Parakram, will leave Mumbai for Cape Town on January 6. The team will sail for Antarctic from Cape Town on the following day. The expedition will last for 16 months.

The team which comprises two officers, one Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and ten other ranks (ors) -- all belonging to the corps of the electrical and mechanical engineers, has undergone training at Joshimath in Uttaranchal and Vadodara. Subedar Naresh Kumar, a member of the present team, had earlier participated in the 18th Antarctic expedition in 1998. The army has been providing the vital logistic support to the Antarctic expeditions since 1982. Its involvement started with the second expedition in 1982-83, when a small contingent of three officers, including a medical officer participated in the expedition.

Ever since, the army has been intimately involved in the expeditions in terms of construction of permanent stations, repair and maintenance and extension of stations, running all life support systems in the station and their maintenance and overland transportation of men and material in Antarctica.

Bureau Report