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October 15, 2003Man to spend 13 months at South PoleHe will be part of two-man medical teamREAD MORE: SOUTH POLE INDEXBy Record-Eagle staff writer FRANKFORT - Troy Wiles set out to find a job down south - and ended up way down south. The Frankfort man packed his bags today for a 13-month stint as a physicians assistant in the Antarctic. "I'm very excited," said Wiles, who formerly worked at Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital in Frankfort. "Every man has a list of things he'd like to do and I think this is certainly one of them."
During the austral summer - October to February - he will care for 225 people who traveled there to do scientific research, build a new station or support both endeavors. Winter approaches in February in the South Pole and permanent daylight turns to darkness. The last flight from the continent leaves until October; until then Wiles will be left with a crew of under 60. Together, they will weather temperatures known to be as low as 82 degrees below zero. But what Wiles expects to bother him most is the distance between he and his wife of 13 years and their two daughters, Brooke, 6, and Jenna, 4. "I'm going to miss them and they're going to miss me," he said, "but we have good family support and good friends." His wife, Kim Wiles, agrees. "We look at it as a positive experience for him," she said. "Thirteen months is a long time and you could get sad about it if you let yourself, but we just don't let ourselves go there. I think we can pull it off." They hope to bridge the gulf by communicating with video phones and e-mail. Wiles will make his way to the South Pole through Christchurch, New Zealand, on to the McMurdo Station near the Antarctic coast and then 900 more miles south to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. He said Raytheon Polar Services Company would pay him between $50,000 and $55,000 for working six, 10-hour days a week for the year, not including bonuses. The National Science Foundation contracts with Raytheon to provide support for the scientists who travel there. "That makes it easy for the scientists to get down there and concentrate on their research," Elaine Hood, a Raytheon spokeswoman, said. The research, most often conducted during the austral summer, takes many forms, including seismology, astronomy, oceanography and biology. Hood said she did not know how many people competed with Wiles for the job, but said it is hard to find qualified medical personnel who are willing to put their lives on hold for an entire year in the Antarctic. "It certainly takes a unique personality," she added. "These are adventurous people who have accommodating personalities."
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