Photo By Master Sgt. Rachelle Coleman | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sean Huseby, 51st Operations Support Squadron weather...... read more read more
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OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea - If there’s one thing that can ruin a good plan, it’s inclement weather. During exercise Beverly Midnight 16-01 here, the 51st Operations Support Squadron weather flight makes sure aircrews and leadership in the emergency operations center have the most recent forecasts for mission success.
The weather flight provides a five-day generalized forecast for the base and specific forecasts for each of the fighter squadrons. Hourly observations are accomplished to support flying operations and to make sure the data from the sensors and actual weather match-up.
During exercise Beverly Midnight 16-01, a weather officer in the EOC is readily available to make sure wing leadership and the mission commander are briefed with expected weather here and in the region.
“It is important to update leadership on current weather conditions that will affect both our base and flying operations around the entire peninsula,” said 1st Lt. Jaclyn Kuhn, 51st Operations Support Squadron wing weather officer. “It is also important to show forecasted weather conditions that could affect the region over the next few days so that leadership can plan possible workarounds for mission limiting weather conditions.
Mitigation is very important to our weather team, and we are often able to offer better times or locations for training and exercise missions in order to most successfully accomplish the goals of our leadership at the EOC.”
Weather affects flying operations both for takeoff and landing as well as for the target flying area.
“We have a weather forecaster in each fighter squadron so they can brief all the pilots,” said Kuhn. “That’s one less person they have to call on the radio for mission information.”
The weather squadron employs a minimum of four weather airmen, 24 hours a day, each at a different location to support the mission. The main weather office is collocated with the airfield management flight and is responsible for taking hourly observations on the airfield and producing the five-day forecast.
“We are there twenty-four hours…for the safe takeoff of aircraft,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Huseby, 51st Operations Support Squadron weather forecaster.
During the exercise, weather operations ramp up as flying operations increase to mimic real-world contingency operations as airfield traffic would increase due to support of additional units and sorties.
“This job can get extremely busy and it can be pretty taxing when we do have bad weather. You can’t crack when you’re under pressure, the pilots rely on us, especially the transient ones,” Huseby said.
Real world or exercise, Team Osan can rely on the weather flight all day, every day.
| Date Taken: | 03.10.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2016 05:49 |
| Story ID: | 191847 |
| Location: | OSAN AIR BASE, KR |
| Web Views: | 296 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Osan weather forecasters essential to flying ops, by MSgt Rachelle Coleman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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