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53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron
WC-130J of the 53rd WRS
Active
1944–1947, 1951–1960, 1962–1991, 1993–present
Country
United States
Branch
United States Air Force
Type
Squadron
Role
Tropical storm weather reconnaissance
Size
10 aircraft, 20 flight crews
Part of
Air Force Reserve Command
Twenty-Second Air Force
403rd Wing
403rd Operations Group
Garrison/HQ
Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi
Nickname(s)
Hurricane Hunters
Decorations
Meritorious Unit Commendation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
A WC-130J Hercules aircraft weather loadmaster of the 53rd WRS performs pre-engine start-up inspection in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, on 16 September 2010. The SFMR antenna housing is visible under the starboard wing outboard of the number four engine.
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."[3] 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 AFB 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,[4] 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 ("CARCAH"), at the National Hurricane Center to coordinate the activities of both organizations.[5]
Concurrent with its operational mission, the 53rd WRS is also tasked with recruiting, organizing and training assigned personnel to perform aerial weather reconnaissance, and its air crews are qualified to handle tactical airlift missions.
^Robertson, Patsy (20 February 2015). "53 Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (AFRC)". AFHRA. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
^ abMarkus, et al., p. 142
^"NHC Aircraft Reconnaissance". National Hurricane Center. 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
^"NOAA Aircraft Operations". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 7 July 2017. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
^"National Hurricane Operations Plan 2015" (PDF). Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2016., Appendix F.
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Global Information
United States
United States Air Force
