It's a 'shamal world' for combat weather Airmen

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- Staff Sgt. Donald Blasini, a 332nd Expeditonary Operations Support Squadron combat weather forecaster, cleans the sensors on a piece of tactical weather equipment here, June 14. The two sensors are about six inches apart and monitor the space between them to determine the visibility on the airfield. Airmen are authorized to wear either the airman battle uniform or physical fitness uniform when cleaning the weather equipment. Sergeant Blasini is deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. (U.S. Air Force photo /Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes)

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- Staff Sgt. Richard Skelly, a 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron combat weather forecaster, cleans components of the tactical weather equipment suite that measure the wind speed and direction here, June 14. It's important for the forecasters to make sure the equipment is clean and functioning properly to get accurate weather readings on the airfield. Sergeant Skelly is deployed from Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (U.S. Air Force photo /Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes)

It's a 'shamal world' for combat weather Airmen

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- Staff Sgts. Donald Blasini and Richard Skelly, combat weather forecasters assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron Combat Weather Flight, work together to ensure the tactical weather equipment here is working properly; the equipment, which is positioned on the airfield, monitors weather conditions. Dirty sensors can affect the accuracy of the readings so the equipment must be cleaned regularly. Airmen are authorized to wear either the airman battle uniform or physical fitness uniform when cleaning the weather equipment. Sergeant Blasini is deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.; Sergeant Skelly is deployed from Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (U.S. Air Force photo /Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes)

It's a 'shamal world' for combat weather Airmen

Published June 19, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
332nd Air Expeditionary Public Affairs Office

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- Believe it or not, there are some Airmen whose job it is to predict the future. They don't predict winning lottery numbers or the location of a special someone; combat weather forecasters predict something more precious to flight operations than money or love -- they predict the weather.

The 10 Airmen assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron Combat Weather Flight are responsible for providing accurate weather information to protect base assets including personnel, structures, equipment and the airfield from adverse weather conditions such as high winds, heavy rains and lightning.

Every time an aircraft is launched, the pilot requires a weather briefing to see find out if the weather conditions will allow for a safe arrival and departure as well as fair conditions en route, said Staff Sgt. Donald Blasini, a 332 EOSS combat weather forecaster, who is deployed from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C.

"If the answer to all those questions is yes, then it's a go [from weather]," Sergeant Blasini said. "If they take off while we're having good weather and the weather changes rapidly, we have steps to follow to get those birds recalled as soon as possible."

More than 10,000 sorties were flown out of Balad this year, thanks in part to combat weather forecasters. They ensured all the aircraft, including F-16s, C-130s, Predators, helicopters and transient aircraft were operated within their respective operational weather limits. High winds and low visibility are a few variables that can affect the flying mission.

"They [combat weather forecasters] are vital to our flying operations," said a pilot assigned to the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. "They advise us if the winds exceed tailwind threshold which means we need to switch runways to takeoff in a different direction. They help us stay within the operating limits of the aircraft and if we went outside those limits, it's possible something bad could happen."

There are four different positions within the flight that Airmen fill to accomplish the weather mission; they are the observer, mission execution forecaster, terminal aerodrome forecaster and briefer.

"The MEF is the mission execution forecaster, who provides the weather information pilots need to fly from this airfield and return and the weather of the other airfields," said Senior Airman Brian Perry, a 332 OSS combat weather forecaster deployed from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. "The TAF is the terminal aerodrome forecaster, who provides a 24-hour forecast for a five-mile radius around the airfield. The briefer coordinates the briefings for [pilots of] any airframe that is here on Balad."

The observer mans a position in the air traffic control tower and monitors the information received from weather equipment on the airfield.

"There are few airfields in the Air Force that still use a human observer," said Staff Sgt. Richard Skelly, a 332 OSS weather forecaster deployed from Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. "Most airfields are switching over to an automated system that [human observers] back up. In this location we don't have [that equipment] so we're the primaries."

The primary piece of equipment the Airmen of the Combat Weather Flight use is a suite of tactical meteorological weather equipment called the TMQ-53.

The TMQ-53 measures weather variables including atmospheric pressure, temperature, dew point, humidity, wind speed and direction, visibility and cloud height and coverage, Sergeant Blasini said.

Perhaps the most salient weather conditions combat weathermen face at Joint Base Balad are haboobs and shamals, dust storms that occur frequently during the spring and summer months.

Airman Perry explained that haboobs, which seem to appear from out of nowhere and disappear just as suddenly, occur when thunderstorms collapse and the winds from the storm stir up the dust from the ground. Shamals, can last anywhere from hours to days, are caused by summer winds blowing over the country.

While there are many scientific explanations and measurements used in weather forecasting, predicting the weather accurately is still a gamble.

I remember the first thing they told me in [technical training] school," Sergeant Blasini said. "Weather is not an exact science. It's you against Mother Nature; you have no control. The odds that you have it right are one in ten. The odds that you're wrong are nine in ten."

"We have to forecast all the different types of weather events that can happen," Airman Perry said. "It can be a headache at times, but when you get something right, it gives you a good feeling."