[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 149 (Thursday, October 28, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S13487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO COLONEL BERNT BALCHEN

 Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, Col. Bernt Balchen, A Norwegian-
born pilot, became one of America's great Arctic experts of the 20th 
Century. A patriotic American, he was also a great friend of the State 
of Alaska.
  Born in Norway on October 23, 1899. Colonel Balchen served in the 
French Foreign Legion, and both the Finnish and Norwegian Armies in 
World War I; and became a pilot in the Norwegian Naval Air Corps in 
1921.
  Throughout the 1920's and 1930's Colonel Balchen participated in 
numerous trans-Atlantic and Arctic expeditions. During 1928-1930, 
Balchen was chief pilot on Admiral Byrd's Atlantic expedition and on 
November 29, 1929, he piloted the first airplane, a Ford trimotor 
``Floyd Bennett'' across the South Pole. Congress conferred United 
States citizenship of Colonel Balchen in 1931.
  When World War II started in 1939, Colonel Balchen began ferrying 
airplanes to England and Singapore for the British. In 1941, he joined 
the United States Army Air Corps at the request of General ``Hap'' 
Arnold, and was assigned to Greenland to Supervise the Construction of, 
and later command, our famous airbase known as ``Bluie West 8''. His 
command is credited with numerous rescue missions saving many pilots 
whose planes had gone down on the icecap.
  In 1943, Balchen became chief of allied transportation command for 
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and the Soviet Union, operating out 
of a secret base in Scotland. During that period, his command regularly 
flew across enemy-occupied territory to rescue downed allied airmen and 
insert commandos and intelligence agents behind enemy lines. He also 
led highly secret missions into Norway to resupply underground 
resistance forces for their operations against the German army of 
occupation.
  After the war, Balchen was recalled to active duty with the United 
States Air Force in 1948 and assigned to command the 10th rescue 
squadron at Elemendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. The techniques of Arctic 
Rescue that Colonel Balchen developed during this assignment continue 
to save the lives of civilian and military personnel to this day. In 
May 1949, he flew a Douglas C-54 from Fairbanks, Alaska over the North 
Pole to Oslo, Sweden, becoming the first pilot to fly over both Poles.
  Colonel Balchen was transferred to headquarters, United States Air 
Force in 1951 to participate in developing the Ballistic missile early 
warning system (BMEWS). Also, he was instrumental in the establishment 
of Thule Air Force base in Greenland and blazed airborne trails to 
assist both commercial and military aviation in the Arctic region. 
After retiring from the Air Force in 1956, Balchen continued to serve 
on special assignment and as a consultant to the military.
  Col. Bernt Balchen died on October 23, 1973, and is buried in 
Arlington National Cemetery. His lifetime achievements influenced the 
course of Aviation, arctic, and military history. His legacy to this 
country and to my State of Alaska is a strong northern defense, an 
established transpolar aviation system, a better understanding of the 
world's polar regions, and, of course, the lives of those rescued by 
Colonel Balchen and the men and women who continue his work with the 
United States Air Force Rescue Service.

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