Misawa Sailors to Create Snow Sculpture in Northern Japan

Photo By Daniel Sanford | With the help of a ladder, Petty Officer 2nd Class Tywan Ballard, an aviation electronics technician, scrapes away at a nine-foot block of snow. Ballard, along with members of the Misawa Navy Snow Team are in Sapporo, Japan and are taking part in the 62nd Annual Sapporo Snow Festival. Over the course of the coming week, the team will chisel down this block of ice into its intended design - an "ice anchor." The team's creation is slated for display throughout the weeklong festival in the northern Japanese city. Ballard is stationed at Misawa Air Base and is attached to Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Detachment Misawa.  

SAPPORO, HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

01.31.2011

Story by Chief Petty Officer Daniel Sanford 

Naval Air Facility Misawa

SAPPORO, Japan – Sailors from Misawa Air Base arrived in Sapporo, Japan here, Jan. 31, and will take part in the city's 62nd annual Snow Festival.

The sailors, attached to Naval Air Facility Misawa and its tenant commands, will now spend the week creating an ice sculpture for the festival, which officially begins Feb. 6.

"We've conducted office calls at the Sapporo Mayors Office and with the Camp Sapporo commanding officer and thanked them for their hospitality and continued support of the U.S. Navy," said Chief Builder Billy Knox, Misawa Navy's ice team leader. "Now we will begin shaping a block of snow, and by the end of the week, hopefully, we'll have created an anchor.

"Or at least something that resembles one, he added with a smile."

U.S. Naval Air Facility Misawa and its tenant commands annually send a team of sailors to the Sapporo Snow Festival to represent the base, and to create a snow sculpture. This year marks the 28th year that Misawa Navy has taken part in this event.

The annual festival historically averages about two million visitors each year to the northern Japanese city. The event features ice and snow sculptures of all different shapes and sizes, and even includes a giant ski jump right in the heart of the city.

"None of the guys on the team have ever done anything like this before so it should be interesting and a lot of fun, said Knox. "I've done a lot of building over the years as a Seabee, but dealing with snow and ice - I'm definitely stepping into some new territory here."

Misawa Navy's Snow Team includes Knox, Petty Officer 2nd Class Tywan Ballard, an aviation electronics technician, Petty Officer 3rd Class Draylon Polk, an operations specialist, Petty Officer 3rd Class Daniel Grimes, an information systems technician, and Seaman Johnny Tran, an aviation maintenance administrationman.

For more news from Naval Air Facility Misawa, visit https://www.cnic.navy.mil/misawa/index.htm or check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nafmisawa.

• Date Taken: 01.31.2011
• Date Posted: 02.01.2011 02:34
• Story ID: 64569
• Location: SAPPORO, HOKKAIDO, JP