TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 325th Operations Support Squadron’s weather flight had their hands full in 2020 with the most active hurricane season on record which produced over 25 named storms and six hurricanes in the Atlantic.
Aircraft from units all over the country use Tyndall’s airspace and prime access to the Eastern Gulf of Mexico for exercises like Checkered Flag and the Weapons System Evaluation Program. A majority of the exercises happen to be during the Atlantic hurricane season.
“This added another layer of complexity as we tried to figure out impacts and timings, both at Tyndall and over our Gulf ranges so that the exercise units could continue to execute their mission for as long as safely possible,” said 1st Lt. Norman Deeg, 325th OSS weather flight commander.
Deeg explained that each aircraft has its own specific weather sensitivities that determine whether they can take off, fly, and land in certain airspaces.
“We are also responsible for providing resource protection to the non-flying units at Tyndall,” said Deeg. “We issue weather watches, warnings, and advisories in order to notify Tyndall personnel of approaching inclement weather.”
The weather flight plays a never ending role in providing critical situational awareness to base leadership and personnel, especially when it comes to hurricane force winds, severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and even high tides.
“[This past hurricane season] was a really good way to enforce that what I’m doing is so immediately impactful to the Air Force as a whole and especially the base and people I see every day,” said Airman 1st Class Amanda Landelius, 325th OSS weather journeyman.
Landelius and Deeg both expressed that the weather team had almost no time to re-group and prepare before another storm made an appearance in the EGOMEX.
“It was very much all hands on deck this season, and I’m extremely proud with how the team rose to the challenge,” said Deeg.