ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Forty miles from civilization, in this case Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, and accessible only by helicopter, U.S. Air Force Capt. Travis Lockwood stands on Colony Glacier. Before him lies a wide, unforgiving landscape scattered with debris from a long-ago tragedy that has become a mission of recovery and reunion, seventy-three years later.
Colony Glacier is a large glacier that is home to the debris of a C-124 Globemaster, which crashed into the side of Mount Gannett. Originally taking off from McChord Air Force Base, Washington, Nov. 22, 1952, en route to Elmendorf Air Force Base, the aircraft never made it to its destination, with the accident taking the lives of 52 passengers and crew members. As of June 2025, 49 of 52 passengers have been identified. The mission has taken place annually since 2012, when the contents of the crash were discovered.
Lockwood, who is the Operation Colony Glacier ground forces commander and recovery team lead, as well as an Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations mortuary affairs deputy chief, travels from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, twice a summer for both phases of the operation, spending multiple weeks upon the blue ice, searching for key pieces of human remains, personal effects, and identifiable information from the fallen aircraft passengers.
Working with a team of joint partners including Armed Forces Medical Examiner System personnel, the Alaska Army National Guard, and JBER volunteers, Lockwood is able to bring pieces of bones, soft tissue, clothing articles, fully intact ID cards, and large parts of the now retired C-124 back to Dover where they will be sent to AFMES.
Lockwood describes a day on the ice as rewarding, despite being physically challenging. Safety is one of Lockwood's priorities as the team lead.
“The glacier is hard-packed ice covered in loose rock. Everything from gravel to large boulders. It's not flat; there are steep inclines, crevasses, and hidden obstacles everywhere,” explains Lockwood, eyes scanning his cold surroundings, hearing the constant sound of rushing water pouring from the melting surfaces.
“Temperature-wise, it ranges from the low 40s to mid-30s, with a lot of wind. And the glacier is constantly changing, it is melting, shifting, moving, so every day we reassess the area we’re working in.”
The team, usually consisting of about seven crew members, begins their day with a 20-minute flight on an Alaska Army National Guard UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter, where skilled Army pilots are able to land the aircraft on small, uneven surfaces upon the ice for a brief, hot unloading. The recovery team is highly trained and carries a days worth of gear, with them preparing for the mission by attending mountaineering school in order to be able to navigate the rough terrain and have the ability to reach deeply into the glacial crevasses.
Every day is a new day on Colony, due to the landscape constantly melting and revealing more debris underneath. The team moves miles down the glacier every year. Lockwood explains that oftentimes the surfaces are unrecognizable, so it is important they discover as much as they can because nothing will be in the same place tomorrow. The operation is split into two phases each summer, in order to let new parts of the landscape melt down to expose more content to search through. Weather conditions on the glacier are monitored by the 3rd Wing, JBER, who provide an on-site weather team.
Despite the challenging daily challenges on the glacier, the team is able to stay focused on the mission due to strong team bonds, one that can only truly be felt by those who have touched the ice and mission, according to Lockwood.
“There’s a unique bond out here, one that only those who’ve been on this mission understand,” he explains. “You can’t explain what it’s like until you’re standing on the ice, finding human remains and personal effects. That experience creates a deep, unspoken connection among the team. We’re united by the mission and by our commitment to each other."
Being able to bring home personal effects to family members is one of the largest aspects of Operation Colony Glacier. AFMAO and AFMES members recently were able to meet with children, cousins, nieces and nephews, and friends of the fallen service members at an event in Dover. Being able to share memories of the fallen members with the families highlighted the impact of the mission, and how their hard work to bring home and identify every member does not go unnoticed.
The emotional pains of the mission include finding personal effects such as wallets, clothing, and safety equipment.
Lockwood highlights one of the more emotional recoveries he made, a wallet belonging to a passenger and a father's belongings.
“Last year, we found a couple of wallets, one of which had contents like business cards and money. One wallet had a printed paper that said 'mom's sizes'—her dress and shoe sizes. It was November, so maybe he was planning to buy her a Christmas present,” explains Lockwood. “I also found a family photo, and behind it, folded up, was a birth certificate for a daughter who was two months old. This individual had a brand new baby and was carrying her birth certificate at the time of the crash…That really puts a personal touch on things and makes [the mission] emotional, knowing these people left families behind and lost their lives coming up here.”
During phase one of 2025, the team was able to find another completely intact wallet that included a fully preserved ID card, photos, mess hall pass, taxi receipt, and TDY orders.
With the personal effects and human remains that are found by the on-ice team, AFMES is able to do DNA processing, fingerprint examination, and other identification processes.
A key team member in this process is an Operation Colony Glacier veteran, Carlos Colon AFMES medicolegal death investigator and the operations subject matter expert. Colon has returned to the glacier every year for 8 years, consistently bringing back and selecting the best viable specimens, submitting them to the DNA lab for processing, with identification usually happening within a year. On the ice, Colon organizes and numbers the samples, helping the team identify what would be suitable specimen to send back. Every day, he visits the morgue on JBER and oversees the process of storing the remains before they are brought to Dover.
Colon, originally from Puerto Rico, served in the U.S. Army as a mortuary affairs specialist, where he would discover and process remains, helping to send them to Dover. He became interested in AFMES and the medical side of the process after witnessing a pathologist, photographer, and investigator in Iraq, leading him to pursue a career in forensic investigation.
Combining his army and civilian experience, Colon has made many impacts to families and to fallen service members, helping them with dignity, honor and respect. Carlos highlights the importance of the mission, emphasizing the promise to bring service members back to their families.
“We won’t leave you behind. For me, it’s a cool reminder, especially for the guys in combat arms, infantry, or combat engineers, that the DoD really does this. Having them participate is special. A lot of them say, 'Wow, I can’t believe we’re still doing this after all these years.' That’s my favorite part. I’ve seen a lot of deaths in my career, so I also find it rewarding to create an environment where it’s easier for people to process what’s happening, so they’re not as affected.”
Colon explains that what keeps him motivated on the ice is how determined everyone is to make all 52 identifications. He shares that one of his favorite memories was when a fellow team member brought a speaker to the glacier, playing music from the 1950s that would have been popular in the time of the crash while they searched. Colon shared that the feeling on the ice is something that is unique to only those who have been there, and that moments like those are examples of how meaningful it is to everyone involved.
“I wish people knew many people are involved in this mission,” says Colon. “How many organizations, how many individuals and how invested everybody is to see it through.”
At the end of the mission each year, AFMAO organizes a dignified departure for the remains before they make their journey to Dover. The long, demanding days, unwavering motivation, and commitment to service from all team members and units make this accomplishment possible.
Colony Glacier is a one-of-a-kind mission that is authentically able to represent the Air Force’s commitment to never leaving an Airman behind.
“We will never leave somebody behind. We’ve made a commitment to the fallen and their families that we will bring them home,” Lockwood finalizes. “The lengths we go to do that are very special…We will care for your Airmen, your Soldiers, your Marines. From the time they join until the time they leave, or until they are brought home. They are not forgotten.”