The winter at Murphy Dome was as one might expect. I remember 60 degrees below zero and wind chills in excess of 100 below. It is true, that hot coffee thrown outside will freeze before it hits the ground. Personally, I never urinated outside in those conditions but some of the guys did. The wind always blew and as a result, our site had small drifts of fine snow piled along inside our hallways. We were required by Air Force directive to carry our Arctic gear with us at all times in a big dufflebag so in the event we needed to evacuate the complex (fire), we’d have a chance of surviving in the extreme temperatures. The facility was totally self-contained so for weeks at a time depending upon the weather you might not go outside. When temperatures dipped below -40 degrees, outside activities were restricted to emergencies only. One morning on my short walk to the Ops Center for day shift, I decided to walk outside a mere 30 or 40 feet rather than take our tunnel. It happened to be well below -100 wind chill and I wanted to be able to say that I had experienced such burning cold so I could impress people later in life. Since this act of stupidity was officially forbidden, wouldn’t you know who was inside when I opened the door….Col. Holland and Lt.Col. Broussard our two ranking officers. They looked at me and said, "what in the hell do you think you’re doing?" I just looked at them and with a serious tone said, "I’m on my way to work sir". They just shook their heads in disbelief and walked on down the hallway. I tell people at work that story and I think they really are impressed.

At the peak of the winter, Murphy remained in complete darkness for most of the day. At the mid-day meal, the sky would lighten to the point of being able to read and in an hour, we were thrown back into darkness. In the absence of ultraviolet light to synthesize vitamin D, I understand the cooks would lace our milk with an extra dose of vitamin D supplement. We often wondered about the salt peter in the mashed potatoes too.

The amazing thing about lack of sunshine is the impact that it has on your physical and psychological profile. I believe humans similarly feel the hibernation instinct exhibited by bears. As I mentioned, we worked six days on and three days off. During our three days off, it was not uncommon to sleep through most of it only to get up, shower, eat and go back to sleep. We had steam rooms in every barracks wing. I took one and sometimes two steam sessions per day. I sure miss that luxury today.