S&A Expedition Support

Personnel Files

The people who get you there. Usually.

A selection of current staff files, lightly redacted for legal reasons and heavily redacted for embarrassing ones. Approved applicants may be considered for future expeditions. Consideration is not a promise, and nothing here guarantees a role in any book.

Personnel File SA-0007

Margaret 'Peggy' Halvorsen

Head of Logistics, Longyearbyen Office

Active
Classification
Indispensable (Reluctantly)
Clearance
Brass

Strengths

  • Can pack a sledge in the dark
  • Speaks four languages, swears in nine

Weaknesses

  • Refuses to fill in forms
  • Has never once used the company kettle correctly

Verdict: Retain at all costs. Do not ask about 1998.

Handwritten note: "She knows where the Amundsen invoices are. She won't say."

Personnel File SA-0112

Desmond Okafor-Pryce

Marine Operations & Ice Pilot

Active
Classification
Calm Under Pressure
Clearance
Iron

Strengths

  • Reads pack ice like a newspaper
  • Unflappable in force-nine gales

Weaknesses

  • Unflappable in situations requiring flapping
  • Insists on tea before mayday calls

Verdict: Exemplary. Mildly unsettling.

Personnel File SA-0263

Dr. Ilse Varga

Expedition Physician & Archivist

Probation
Classification
Overqualified Pessimist
Clearance
Brass

Strengths

  • Sutures at -30°C
  • Has read every expedition diary ever written

Weaknesses

  • Quotes the bad parts of those diaries
  • Currently on probation for 'improving' the archive

Verdict: Keep. Lock the archive.

Personnel File SA-0401

Tobias 'Gearbox' Lund

Mechanic, Snowcats & Small Aircraft

Under Review
Classification
Enthusiastic Liability
Clearance
Tin

Strengths

  • Can fix anything with fencing wire
  • Genuinely loves engines

Weaknesses

  • Also loves taking them apart unprompted
  • Responsible for the 2019 hovercraft incident

Verdict: Supervised deployment only.

Handwritten note: "Hovercraft has been found. Mostly."