Weather squadron at Yokota final step
in plan to centralize forecasts by region
By Jennifer H. Svan, Tokyo
Bureau Chief
Jason Carter / Stars and Stripes
Tech. Sgt. Huy Vu works on Yokota's daily forecast in the regional weather operations room
at Yokota on Tuesday. |
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — When pilots like Maj. Mark Czelusta
needed a weather brief faxed to him on a mission, he used to fish through weather
operators “who may or may not be familiar with our mission.”
Now, Czelusta can talk to a combat weather team member at Yokota, who
knows the current weather conditions and the pilot’s mission and aircraft.
“What it means for us on the road is really something very
unique and very, very cool for us,” said Czelusta, a C-130 flight instructor at
Yokota and chief of wing tactics, 374th Operations Support Squadron.
Activated less than a year ago, the squadron is part of an Air Force
re-engineering plan to centralize weather forecasting by region. It’s the last of
seven new Air Force weather squadrons worldwide to come on line.
“The mission of the Air Force is to fly, fight and win, and our
mission is to support that mission,” said Lt. Col. Robert J. Rizza, commander of 20th
Operational Weather Squadron.
The 20th OWS will eventually produce forecasts for Air Force and Army
bases in Japan, Okinawa and Korea, airspace in the western Pacific Ocean and contingency
operations in the region.
“Over the last 10 years, with the downsizing of the Air Force
and restrictions in budgets, we came to the conclusion that we could be doing business
differently and more efficiently,” Rizza said.
Since then, weather squadrons have sprouted at Elmendorf [Alaska],
Hickam [Hawaii], Shaw [South Carolina], Scott [Illinois], Davis Monthan [Arizona], and
Sembach [Germany] air bases.
Some jobs at base weather stations, where local 24-hour forecasts
were produced prior to reengineering, will be transferred to 20th OWS to fill about 90
positions by October 2002.
The smaller weather flights are now being called combat weather
teams, working as liaisons between OWS and flight squadrons at their bases.
They’ll use forecasts by OWS and their own observations to
customize flight plans for squadron aerial missions, Rizza said. Forecasters from these
teams will be assigned to certain squadrons based on their need for weather flight plans.
Crews on temporary duty are already taking forecasters with them,
said 1st Lt.Jennifer Meadows, officer-in-charge of 20th OWS Contingency Planning Flight.
Even pilots in squadrons without an assigned meteorologist may access
weather information faster by requesting a weather briefing through the 20th OWS Web site.
And transient crews that stop at Yokota will have access to regional
forecasts.
Tech. Sgt. Huy Vu is one of the forecasters at 20th OWS who can
provide an on-line flight weather brief in about 10 minutes. Pilots supply him with their
aircraft call number, take-off time, and preferred destination with alternatives in case
of bad weather.
“The workload is better and the knowledge is better,” Vu
said.
Some weather information will be classified and not posted on the
squadron’s Web site. This includes weather briefings for a contingency operation,
Rizza said.
The squadron also will put out a five-day forecast for each Air Force
and Army base in its region.
During typhoon season, meteorologists will use information from the
Joint Typhoon Warning Center near Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, to forecast the
storm’s course, intensity and effect on local installations. The squadron also will
train weather apprentices.
More than $1 million of new equipment was sunk into the
squadron’s weather center at Yokota, and “we probably expect to see that again
before we’re fully outfitted,” Rizza said.
Back to September stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from August, 2001
Stories from July, 2001
Stories from June, 2001
Stories from May, 2001
Stories from April, 2001
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
