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Squadrons · from 1944

53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron

Military unit.

History

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known by its nickname, Hurricane Hunters, is a flying unit of the United States Air Force, and "the only Department of Defense organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes." Aligned under the 403rd Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, with ten aircraft, it flies into tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Central Pacific Ocean for the specific purpose of directly measuring weather data in and around those storms. The 53rd WRS currently operates the Lockheed WC-130J aircraft as its weather data collection platform.

The squadron was activated in 1944 during World War II as the 3rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, tracking weather in the North Atlantic between North America and Europe. Redesignated the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron in 1945, the term "Hurricane Hunters" was first applied to its activities in 1946. The 53rd became a part of the USAF before its inactivation in 1947, was reactivated in 1951 as a long range weather reconnaissance unit based in Bermuda and England, and since 1963 has been based in the southern United States or in Puerto Rico with its primary mission the measurement of tropical cyclones. The 53rd WRS moved to its present home station at Keesler in 1973, and after being briefly inactivated again between 1991 and 1993, became an Air Force Reserve unit.

The Hurricane Hunters of the Air Force Reserve are distinct from those of the Department of Commerce's NOAA Hurricane Hunters, based at Lakeland Linder International Airport, Florida, who use a pair of Lockheed WP-3D Orion and a Gulfstream IV-SP aircraft to also fly weather reconnaissance, data collection and scientific research missions. In accordance with its memorandum of agreement with NOAA, AFRC maintains a capability in the 53rd WRS for five sorties per day from its home station and two deployed locations in support of requirements for the National Hurricane Operations Plan, or two sorties a day during winter storm seasons. The 53rd also provides a subunit, the Chief, Aerial Reconnaissance Coordination, All Hurricanes at the National Hurricane Center to coordinate the activities of both organizations.

Text from Wikipedia: 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Key dates

  1. 1935
    Acting on a report from a Pan American Airlines pilot, a weather observation flight was requested of the Cuban Army Air Corps and on 2 September 1935 its chief training pilot, American expatriate Capt.
  2. 1943
    On 27 July 1943 he took out one of the trainers with 2nd Lt Ralph M. O'Hair navigating and flew it straight into the eye of the storm.
  3. 1944
    The 53rd WRS was activated on 7 August 1944 at Presque Isle Army Air Field, Maine, originally as the 3 WRS. Many of its missions were flown from a forward base at Gander, Newfoundland, using B-25s.
  4. 1945
    Redesignated 53rd Reconnaissance Squadron, Very Long Range, Weather on 27 November 1945
  5. 1953
    On 18 September 1953, while based at Kindley, Bermuda, the squadron suffered its only mission-related loss of an aircraft, a WB-29.
  6. 1964
    The WC-130H airframes flown by the 53rd were originally built in 1964–65 as C-130Es.
  7. 1965
    In 1965 the 53rd WRS became the first squadron of the Air Weather Service to operate the WC-130 after its designation as such, and from Ramey flew the first WC-130 Hurricane Hunter mission on 27 August 1965, penetrating the eye of Hurricane Betsy.
  8. 1997
    In 1997 and 1998, the Hurricane Hunters also flew winter storms in the Gulf of Alaska.
  9. 2013
    Furloughs of personnel, amounting to two days in every pay period per member, resulted in a 20% cut in capability, according to the wing commander of the 403rd Wing on 24 July 2013.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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