 After the closure of the Greenland stations, the experienced gained by the unit was transferred to its new mission; the airlift support to National Science Foundation's South Pole research program and the U.S. Navy's VXE-6 unit.The 109th continued to augment the Navy's Antarctic flying operations for the next eight years.The 109th was not mobilized during the 1990 Gulf Crisis, however 109th AW members called to duty in support of Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm.