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  • ACC command team visit Offutt Air Force Base

    Gen. Ken Wilsbach, commander of Air Combat Command, and Chief Master Sgt. David Wolfe, ACC command chief, visited the 55th Wing Aug. 19-20. Wilsbach and Wolfe were accompanied by their spouses, Cindy Wilsbach and Dr. Doniel Wolfe.

  • Air – Sea METOC convergence

    Air Force and Navy Meteorological and Oceanographic (METOC) leaders from around the world recently converged on Offutt AFB for a series of meetings to chart a course forward on cooperation. Commanders and senior enlisted leaders representing three Navy METOC centers, two AF operations groups and six

  • The Weather Operations metamorphosis

    The 557th Weather Wing emerged from its cocoon on March 27, 2015, marking the beginning of a new era for Weather Warriors who would transition the Air Force Weather Agency from a Field Operating Agency to a first-of-its-kind operational weather wing, an organization worthy of its heritage, yet

  • Weather Wing provides solution to Guardians

    Airmen from the 2d Combat Weather Systems Squadron traveled to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, Jan. 17 – 21 to install a Portable Doppler Radar or PDR weather system to assist Guardians with space launch operations. The PDR was installed to prevent a gap in environmental data coverage

  • Mission Defense Team working to achieve IOC

    Franklin D. Kramer, former assistant secretary of defense, wrote in the Cyberpower and National Security publication that the United States must create an effective national and international strategic framework for the development and use of cyber as part of an overall national security

  • A clear path for Humanitarian Aid to Haiti

    Members of the 25th Operational Weather Squadron in Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. recently provided a steady stream of meteorological and oceanographic capabilities to facilitate the USAID-led humanitarian response to the earthquake in Haiti on Aug. 14, 2021.

  • Weather wing developing leaders with AD360

    A program has been developed in the 557th Weather Wing to bridge the gap in leadership development for the most valuable resource – our Airmen. It is called Airman Development 360 (AD360). It was developed for wing-level release in late 2020 and officially started in January 2021.

  • ACC leadership team visits Team Offutt

    Air Combat Command’s leadership team saw how the Airmen of the 55th Wing and 557th Weather Wing play a crucial role in the defense of the nation during a visit to Offutt Air Force Base July 20-22, 2021.

  • Weather Wing Targets Elsa

    The 557th Weather Wing, the Air Force’s only wing of its kind, marshalled significant capabilities to track and predict the behavior of Hurricane Elsa as it formed in the Atlantic Ocean. Even before the system strengthened into a named storm, the wing had armed commanders in the Southeastern United

  • Tackling Tornadoes Takes Teamwork

    Across military operations, weather influences the entire spectrum of planning to execution. From carrier groups routing around typhoons to installations evacuating aircraft in advance of a hurricane, weather drives human behavior daily. Within the 557th Weather Wing, forecasters are preparing now

  • Renewal ensures wing, Volcanic Ash Advisory Center partnership endures

    The 557th WW serves as the backup to the Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center via its own VAAC located within the 2d Weather Squadron. This backup capability ensures that the Department of Commerce continues to protect general and commercial aviation over the U.S by leveraging Department of

  • 17th OWS member receives U.S. Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award

    On July 24, 2020, Matthew Kucas, a member of the 17th Operational Weather Squadron assigned to the U.S. Air Force / U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, was awarded the U.S. Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his innovative work on a two-week tropical cyclone

  • 2nd CWSS narrows Air Force Weather’s first-in communications gap

    Members from Air Force Weather and Special Operations communities gathered at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, Feb. 20, to test a first-in communications capability with potential for the global Air Force mission. Joint Special Operations Command, 2nd Combat Weather Systems Squadron, 18th Weather Squadron

  • 15th OWS creating margin with Ready Month

    The 15th Operational Weather Squadron has introduced a new scheduling model this year to improve readiness, morale and the ability to train. Dubbed “Ready Month,” the plan provides the opportunity for one of the squadron’s four operational flights to come off 24/7 operations for a month to focus on

  • Cyber Evolution: 16th Weather Squadron

    The 16th Weather Squadron is leading the way, reorganizing to become the 557th Weather Wing’s dedicated software and innovation squadron, a move that will generate new insights on environmental intelligence for combatant commanders around the globe. When complete, the reorganization will reinforce

  • Made with love in Australia by a 2nd WS Airman

    A 2nd Weather Squadron Airman stationed in Australia is crafting hope in her local community in the midst of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Staff Sgt. Kalynn Mitchell, a 2nd WS solar analyst at Learmonth Solar Observatory in Exmouth, Western Australia, is using her sewing machine and fabric from a

  • 557th WW integrating with 16th AF missions

    The 557th Weather Wing is working to integrate its strengths into the recently formed 16th Air Force, which brought intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber, electronic warfare, information operations and weather all under one roof. Integration is a key theme for the Air Force’s first

  • Weather Airmen share mission at Rose Bowl event

    As people prepared to celebrate the New Year’s holiday, five Airmen from units across the 557th Weather Wing journeyed to Pasadena, California. Their mission was to tell the Air Force Weather story at Live on Green!, a free entertainment and education event that precedes the annual Rose Parade and

  • 557th WW trains its own to deploy anytime, everywhere

    Instructors from the 2nd Combat Weather Systems Squadron took on an unusual set of students, a class composed entirely of Airmen from a single unit. Airmen from the 25th Operational Weather Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, attended the Deployed Weather Systems Training class at

  • 557th WW holds first wing operational readiness exercise

    The 557th Weather Wing completed its first operational readiness exercise since standing up as an Air Combat Command wing.Held Aug. 19-23, Operational Readiness Exercise - Steel Colander tested the wing’s ability to deliver weather intelligence in a contested, degraded and operationally-limited

  • Weather Airmen train for JTF storm

    Staff Weather Officers (SWO) from the 3d Weather Squadron (WS) were put to the test during a Certification Field Exercise (CFX), July 28-Aug. 2, at Camp Bowie Training Center, Texas. The CFX was designed to evaluate the squadron’s overall tactical ability and readiness to provide the U.S. Army with

  • Overnight radar replacements for NEXRAD

    The NEXT RADAR, or NEXTRAD replacement, completed at Cannon in February in one night, is part of an ongoing effort there and at 24 other Air Force installations worldwide. The Air Force’s 25-site replacement program is part of a three-agency U.S. government effort to standardize the 180 radars that

  • ROKAF Weather Wing commander visits 557th WW

    The commander of the Republic of Korea Air Force Weather Wing visited 557th Weather Wing headquarters June 20, 2019. The ROK-US weather collaboration meeting, held between Col. Gyun Do Ki, ROKAF WW commander, and Col. Brian Pukall, 557th WW commander, is traditionally held every two years after the

  • Midshipmen visit 15th OWS to learn Midwest weather

    Midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy visited the 15th Operational Weather Squadron May 11, 2019, to learn about severe weather and its effects on aviation. An example of cross service partnership, the annual visit allows future naval officers the opportunity to learn about weather phenomena from

  • Most important weather forecast ever made

    Seventy-five years ago, Allied forces began the task of opening the second front in Europe when they landed on the beaches of Normandy, France on June 6, 1944.Weather was a key factor in deciding when and where the invasion would take place. There were competing priorities when selecting the desired

  • ACC Airmen performing space mission in Australia celebrate 40 years

    The Learmonth Solar Observatory celebrated its 40th anniversary April 27, 2019, at Learmonth, Western Australia, giving solar immersion briefings at the facility and holding a partnership barbecue.The observatory is operated jointly by 2nd Weather Squadron’s Detachment 1 and the Australian Bureau of

  • 1 WXG’s virtual training brings real benefits

    Airmen assigned to the 1st Weather Group are rolling out virtual reality training tailored to the needs of the Air Force Weather community, allowing them to train faster and smarter.Delivered on March 14, 2019, 1st WXG’s NextGen Environmental Weather Training System simulates setting up and

  • 26th OWS Airmen experience the pilot’s perspective

    Two Airmen from the 26th Operational Weather Squadron got to experience the weather they normally only forecast when they donned flight suits and took to the skies at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, Feb. 21, 2019.Tech. Sgt. Chris Bieber, 26th OWS shift supervisor, and Senior Airman

  • 2nd WXG innovations: Task Force Bat Phone delivers data Airmen need

    This is the second part of a series highlighting innovations by the 557th Weather Wing’s 2nd Weather Group.Using off-the-shelf components, new processes and a little inspiration from Batman, a group of innovative Airmen from the 557th Weather Wing’s 2nd Weather Group are changing how information is

  • 2nd WXG Innovations: 14th WS releases new climate go kit

    This is the first of a series highlighting innovations by the 557th Weather Wing’s 2nd Weather Group.After only six months of in-house development, the 2nd WXG’s 14th Weather Squadron in Asheville, North Carolina, introduced their Climate Go-Kit, a new tool for weather forecasters to prepare for

  • 557th WW joins 55th WG for Winter Havoc

    The 557th Weather Wing joined the 55th Wing, Offutt Air Force Base’s host wing, for the Operational Readiness Exercise Winter Havoc.Twenty-one Airmen from the 2nd Systems Operations Squadron, 2nd Weather Squadron and 16th Weather Squadron joined approximately 600 other Offutt AFB Airmen for the late

  • 17th OWS wins weather squadron of the year

    The 17th Operational Weather Squadron has been selected as the Air Force Weather Squadron of the Year for 2018.Located at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, the 17th OWS provides weather operations support throughout the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.One of the squadron’s accomplishments was

  • 25th OWS celebrates 75th anniversary

    Surrounded by historic aircraft in the main hangar of the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tuscon, Arizona, the 25th Operational Weather Squadron celebrated its 75th anniversary Nov. 2, 2018. Originally known as the 25th Weather Squadron, the unit provided weather support to Army and Army Air Corps

  • ACC commander visits Team Offutt

    U.S. Air Force Gen. Mike Holmes, the commander of Air Combat Command, along with his wife, Sara, visited Offutt AFB Oct. 30-31, 2018. Holmes, the leader of the primary provider of air combat forces to America's warfighting commanders, met with Airmen, senior leaders, civic leaders and Offutt partner

  • (Commentary) 2nd CWSS helps restore operations after Hurricane Michael

    129 miles per hour...that was the last wind speed recorded at Tyndall Air Force Base and the highest official on-land wind report recorded before the weather sensors were shredded as Hurricane Michael made landfall just after noon directly over the Florida Panhandle’s 325th Fighter Wing.The sensors

  • Cyber Airmen “fuel” innovation

    Cyber Airmen assigned to the 557th Weather Wing recently teamed together with the Defense Innovation Unit program making changes to how airborne tankers are scheduled. The changes are the direct result of a March 8, 2018, memo from Gen. Mike Holmes, commander of Air Combat Command, where he stated,