Raytheon Polar Services holds the current 10-year contract to the National Science Foundation's USAP provides logistical support, base, and camp operations in Antarctica. RPSC is a civilian contractor. Any qualified individual can be hired and deployed to the ice. They hold a job fair every April to recruit new blood. Their home office is located in Englewood, Colorado and can be found at www.polar.org
Every year RPSC recruits for polar deployment:
- Cooks
- Communications technicians
- Electronics technicians
- Janitors
- Journalists
- Photographers
- Heavy Machinery Operators
- Machinists
- Carpenters
- Painters
- Mechanics (small engine)
- Mechanics (heavy machinery)
- Mechanics (helicopter)
- Drillers (ice)
- Librarians
- Accountants
- Mountain Rescue Personnel
- Computer Network Technicians
- Lab Technicians
- Computer Repair Technicians
- Physicians
RPSC employees handle all grantee travel, medical qualification, and equipment transportation needs. They are responsible for all USAP assets on the ground in Antarctica.
RPSC employees produce a newsletter during the summer season called The Antarctic Sun. Issues of the Sun can be found in both .pdf and html formats at the RPSC website.
RPSC does not handle transportation to and from Antarctica. That is done by the New York Air National Guard in cooperation with the New Zealand Air Force who flies C-130 and C-141 military transport planes from Christchurch, New Zealand, to McMurdo Station on the ice.