Antarctic explorer guides Scott kids through mission Published April 30, 2014 By Senior Airman Sarah Hall-Kirchner 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Fourth and fifth grade students learned about what it is like to explore Antarctica from an Air Force member April 22 at Scott Elementary School. Lt. Col. William "Sal" Salvaggio, 109th Airlift Wing LC-130 instructor navigator, is temporarily assigned to the 618th Air and Space Operations Center (TACC) at Scott Air Force Base. He presented the students with a video, cold weather gear, and his vast knowledge on traveling to Antarctica. He's been traveling to Antarctica since 2006, and excluding this year, has gone every single season. "The longest I've stayed is seven weeks total in one shot," said Salvaggio. "The average stay is 10 to 11 weeks in two different stays. We bring an LC-130 down and stay four weeks and then go home for a while, usually two weeks to a month. Then we go back for another four or five weeks." The LC-130 teams head down to Antarctica to support the National Science Foundation's requirements for science, said Salvaggio. They transport people who are studying the sun, the ice, the air, the sky, meteorites, or anything to do with science. What makes the LC-130 special, and what allows them to land in Antarctica, are special skis, an extra hydraulics system and jet-assisted take off bottles. "The JATO bottle is a solid rocket propellant that is attached to the LC-130," said Salvaggio. "There are eight on the plane to assist in getting the nose ski off of the ice during takeoff." The skis help the plane to land on the ice, and the extra hydraulics system operates the skis. Salvaggio explained to the children what his team does on their missions after they land on the ice. He also showed them how they protect themselves against the extreme cold of the Antarctic. Kathryn Aitken, Scott Elementary School fifth grade teacher, volunteered to dress out in layers of cold weather gear. Students dressed her in cover-alls, a heavy coat, boots, gloves and a warm hat. "It was a neat experience to feel what our military goes through while living or stationed in Antarctica," said Aitken. "The clothing was lightweight but very warm." After the demonstration, Salvaggio took questions from the students. He told them about an active volcano on the continent of Antarctica and about wildlife living there. Salvaggio asked the principal of the school if he could volunteer to teach the children about his Antarctic missions. "When I was a kid someone came into my class to talk about being a doctor or a veterinarian or a milk man or a mail man," said Salvaggio. He hoped to teach the students that they could be anything that they wanted to be, whether it was a teacher, a pilot, a navigator, a scientist or an explorer. "A lot of times, unless you are told, 'you can be anything you want to be,' these kids might not know that they can do anything," said Salvaggio. "This is the perfect age to tell the kids, 'you can do anything you want.'"