Photo By Tech. Sgt. Sarah McClanahan | U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Victoria Hager, weather specialist, 159th Fighter Wing,...... read more read more
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SAVANNAH, Ga. (January 29, 2025) --- All is quiet on the flight line.
A white blanket of snow stills the fighter jets housed at the otherwise bustling Georgian airfield at Savannah Air National Guard Base.
Only essential personnel stir in the early hours of this winter morning — among them, a U.S. Air Force weather specialist trudges through icy snow toward the Air Dominance Center to deliver the mission execution forecast.
Tech Sgt. Victoria Hager, weather specialist, 159th Fighter Wing, Louisiana National Guard, is part of the team of forecasters who supported exercise Sentry Savannah 25-1 during the largest snow accumulation Savannah has seen since 1989, according to the National Weather Service.
“Our main mission is getting the pilots off the ground and in the air as safely as possible,” said Hager. “But not just them, [also] the personnel side. So for those who are going to and from work, road conditions are very hazardous right now.”
While road and flight line conditions delayed scheduled training flights, the inclement weather allowed Hager to forecast conditions other than the thunderstorms and hurricanes her home unit is accustomed to.
“Being attached to New Orleans, we never really saw snow until literally last night,” explained Hager, who forecasted colder climates while assigned to the Ohio National Guard earlier in her career. “But here I was able to re-hone in on some of those skills or kind of like relight that spark.”
Much like many other Air Force weather specialists, Hager has supported U.S. Army units and rotary-winged aircraft for much of her career. Sentry Savannah 25-1 allowed the weather specialists to refine and broaden their skill sets by tailoring their MEFs to the needs of the six types of fixed-wing aircraft participating in the two-week exercise.
“I started as Army support … so Chinooks, Black Hawks, you name it … those guys care immensely about anything 10,000 feet and below because it affects their aircraft way more significantly than the fighter [jets] busting through that layer and climbing up to 30,000 feet,” explained Hager. “So their hazards are going to be a lot different.”
Forecasting for fighter jets requires weather specialists to pay close attention to conditions that could influence visibility, generate turbulence, and more. Hager explained that understanding how weather impacts different types of fighter aircraft is critical for maintaining mission readiness.
“The beauty of Sentry Savannah, like for most of us Guardsmen, is we work with one aircraft unless it gets changed over,” explained Master Sgt. Nicholas Mistisshen, meteorological technician, 104th Fighter Wing, Massachusetts National Guard. “[Here we] get to work with F-16s, F-22s, F-35, T-38 planes or other aircraft that we normally don't get to forecast for. That helps broaden our experience with it so when we go deploy … we can support those other airframes because we've done it before.”
Hager explained that integrating with more than 1,000 Sentry Savannah 25-1 participants enabled her team to familiarize themselves with the forecasting needs of the Airmen on the ground, as well as the fighter and aerial refueling aircraft in the sky, and supporting the principles of the 2022 National Defense Strategy by helping to build a more resilient and ready joint force.
“We've been chopping [the MEFs] apart and making it more mission friendly and fighter friendly by making it more legible for hazards, and just continuously taking feedback and immediately using it,” said Hager. “Hearing what they're asking for and tailoring it to that has been really enjoyable.”
As the snow and ice melted and exercise operations resumed, Hager and her team kept a critical eye on the notional sky — all the more ready to meet the demands of forecasting for Airmen and aircraft alike.
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.18.2025 15:55 |
| Story ID: | 489956 |
| Location: | SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 216 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Georgian Snowfall Sharpens Forecaster Skills in Sentry Savannah 25-1, by TSgt Sarah McClanahan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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