JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, VA. –
Airmen provide mission support for airfield operations daily, whether supporting fighter planes or helicopters, but a sudden change in the atmosphere can disrupt workflow in an instant. The fluctuating nature of weather requires Airmen adaptation: a goal Airmen must embrace to execute base asset protection, among other mission sets.
The 1st Operations Support Squadron Felker Weather Flight provides Fort Eustis with daily forecasts; ensuring the resiliency and survivability of the base as a power projection platform.
Airfield Weather Operations, then-named the Air Weather Service, became part of the newly-formed Air Force in 1947. The Air Force took on the responsibility of providing meteorological services to the Army under the terms of the Key West Agreement, signed March 1948. The 1st OSS FWF continues to provide mission-critical forecasts ensuring the daily operations of aircraft and military personnel safety at Fort Eustis.
The four Airmen of FWF provide mission support for both the base and the airfield, they draft forecasts 18 hours a day, which contributes to the overall protection of assets and resources from inclement weather conditions.
“Each forecaster has their own specific way of creating a forecast, but they all follow the same four specific steps,” said Tech. Sgt. Brian Sermons, 1st Operations Support Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge. “You gather information, break down timeline of events, create a forecast, and then you watch it.”
The Airmen create their forecasts after observing cloud coverage, temperature, precipitation, lightning, wind speed and direction throughout the day using information from weather sensors and processors. They condense the projected weather patterns into a timeline customers can understand before public distribution. However, Airmen must continue to observe for changes, updating their forecasts as needed to sustain base operations due to the ever-changing nature of the weather.
“In tech school, we are given generalized knowledge of how to forecast, but when you go to the base you are forecasting for, you start to get familiar with how localized effects, geography, topography and climatology affect the weather,” said Staff Sgt. Zoe Swisher, 1st Operations Support Squadron weather craftsman.
The FWF also advises Air Traffic Control when to return pilots from flights depending on the day’s weather projection, as well as brief base commanders in preparation for upcoming storms or exercises. FWF works with Emergency Management, base leadership, local authorities and other government agencies to forecast localized changes in the weather by the hour as needed during hurricane season.
“Because we service the greater part of Virginia as a whole and as far as where our customers fly, our 30-hour forecast is the stepping stone for our mission,” said Swisher. “We have eyes in the sky that contribute to the aviation weather and mission components where we directly support our customers, and the resource protection of the base.”