Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing administrative materials created before, during, and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2001.0024: Albert L. Raithel, 2001 October
[identification of item], Albert L. Raithel Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0105, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2023 November; Finding aid written by: Courtney Bishop, 2021 July; David Mezick, 2023 November
Captain Albert L. Raithel (1929-2008) was a United States Navy pilot who served as part of Operation Deep Freeze II (1956-1957) in the Antarctic. He enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in 1947 and graduated in 1951. Raithel served in the Korean War, and after returning from Korea, he completed flight training with the Navy in February 1953.
In March 1956, Raithel reported to Air Development Squadron Six (VX-6) to serve as part of Operation Deep Freeze II. He flew one of the first Lockheed P2V "Neptune" aircraft to Antarctica, and spent 10 days there in January 1957, flying once to the South Pole to deliver supplies and transport a scientist.
After his time with VX-6 and Operation Deep Freeze II, Raithel served as a Communications Officer at the Naval Academy from 1957-1959. He attended post-graduate school in 1959, graduated with a degree in meteorology in 1961, and continued to serve in the Navy. Raithel also studied at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, starting in May 1970. He later served as part of the Joint Chiefs of Staff within the United States Department of Defense, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Military Committee in Brussels, Belgium, and then as United States Liaison Officer to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT). Raithel retired from the Navy on June 30, 1981. He was a member of the Boy Scouts of America, the Explorers Club, the Antarctician Society, and the American Polar Society.
The Albert L. Raithel Oral History, dated 2001-2002 and 2009, contains audio recordings and transcripts of the interview between Raithel and Brian Shoemaker of the American Polar Society conducted on October 28, 2001, and correspondence from 2009 about the transcripts of the interview. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by the American Polar Society and Ohio State University’s Byrd Polar Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics discussed include Raithel’s career in the United States Navy, his interest in Antarctic exploration starting from when he was a child, his involvement with the Boy Scouts of America, Operation Deep Freeze II, ski-equipped Lockheed P2V "Neptune" aircraft, and his experience flying Lockheed P2V "Neptune" aircraft to Antarctica and the South Pole.