Whether they fly or not, weather plays their part

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Scott Saldukas
  • 47th Flying Training Wing public affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  On June 5, 1944, a significant event was scheduled to take place but was put on hold due to predicted weather conditions, later leading to an infamous day in American history.

The event was D-Day, which is famously known to have taken place June 6 of that year. The date change was because of a Royal Air Force meteorologist's forecast of unfavorable weather while the invasion would have been at sea.

His predictions were said to have been correct while weather conditions were reported to have been insurmountable. This act was one of many proven reasons for the importance of having weather specialists in the military then and now.

The 47th Operations Support Squadron Weather Flight here plays that role as the weather experts and eyes on the skies. The 10-person flight is responsible for all things weather related to the base and its mission.

"The weather flight provides mission-tailored products in support of the flight training and ground mission of the wing," said Master Sgt. Geoff Thompson, 47th OSS Weather Operations flight chief. "Laughlin is first and foremost a flight training installation."

Sergeant Thompson emphasized the importance that his flight plays day-to-day to aid in successfully getting the job done.

"The majority of our mission is directed towards the training function with personnel conducting personal weather briefs to aircrew and conducting a mission watch for the path and location of all aircraft launched and recovered here," he said. "Based on the weather intelligence we provide, missions are either sent on their way or cancelled due to safety risks."

Although the bulk of their work is spent making sure the skies are clear to fly, the information they obtain is disseminated around base and also outside agencies.

"The data and products we produce and form are a part of an Air Force wide information database and infrastructure that can be used by other governmental agencies, private sector, public and global communities," said Capt. Kerrin Caldwell, 47th OSS Weather Operations flight commander.

The flight also coordinates and issues of weather warnings, weather watch and advisories as part of their resource protection mission that aims to give as much advance warning of the situation and mission-impacting weather as possible.

"The weather flight is vitally important to us here at maintenance," said Amy Graveley, 47th Maintenance Group deputy director. "Their information lets us know if we need to hangar our aircraft due to storms rolling in but also keeps our people safe with the heat status updates. I wouldn't be able to make informed decisions without them."

While maintenance is only one of many areas influenced by the weather flight, it shows how vital their job is to successfully completing the mission.

"Weather can be our greatest ally or strongest adversary," Captain Caldwell said. "That's why accurate weather forecasting plays such an integral part in the success and safety of our mission. Weather is integrated in every facet of the Air Force. There is no mission the Air Force has that does not include the rapid weather intelligence."

The up-to-the-minute weather information even reaches those planning on taking a physical training test. The Health and Wellness Center utilizes the weather flight resources to check temperature and wind information to confirm conditions are met for a legal physical assessment.

"In short, there is not a single area of this installation that is not affected by the information the weather flight provides," Sergeant Thompson said.