ANTARCTIC COMMAND

This explorer-reserve officer's account of the Navy scientific expedition to the Antarctic in 1957-1958, as part of the International Geophysical Year, turns out more of a shocking revelation of the breakdown of discipline than an account of scientific discovery. The author, the son of a famed Norwegian explorer, and a member of Byrd's Antarctic trip in 1933, tells his story simply. Chosen as one of the commanders of this more recent venture (It was partly Navy, partly civilian controlled), he soon found discipline declining. The men, forced to spend whole months inside, took to excessive beer drinking and roistering. Insubordination, fights, and insults to officers became regular occurrences. Blaming the condition on a spilt command, and on bad choices of personnel for such arduous duty, the writer tries to exonerate as many as possible. Some attention is given to the scientific work itself, and to the exploration and mishap on the ice sheet at the bottom of the world. Rather unhappy in style and expression, and indeed distressing from the point of view of military morale.