The United States Air Force has several types of weather squadrons.
Squadron | Shield | Location | Nickname | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
9th Operational Weather Squadron | Shaw AFB | The 9 OWS inactivated on 31 May 2008 and merged with the 26th Operational Weather Squadron located on Barksdale AFB, Louisiana. | ||
11th Operational Weather Squadron | Elmendorf AFB | Inactivated on 13 June 2008; operations consolidated with 17th OWS | ||
15th Operational Weather Squadron | Scott AFB | "Thunderbolts" | ||
17th Operational Weather Squadron | Hickam AFB | "Fighting Geckos" | ||
20th Operational Weather Squadron | Yokota AB | "Samurais" | Inactivated April 2006; operations consolidated with 17th OWS [4] | |
21st Operational Weather Squadron | Kapaun Air Station | "Knights" | ||
25th Operational Weather Squadron | Davis–Monthan AFB | "Bobcats" | ||
26th Operational Weather Squadron | Barksdale AFB | "Bayou Bandits" | ||
28th Operational Weather Squadron | Shaw AFB | "Cobras" |
Hurricane hunters, typhoon hunters, or cyclone hunters are aircrews that fly into tropical cyclones to gather weather data. In the United States, the organizations that fly these missions are the United States Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Hunters. Such missions have also been flown by Navy units and other Air Force and NOAA units. Other organizations also fly these missions, such as Government Flying Service Hong Kong.
The 557th Weather Wing is a United States Air Force formation and its lead military meteorology center. It reports environmental situational awareness worldwide to the Air Force, the United States Army, joint warfighters, Unified Combatant Commands, the national intelligence community, and the Secretary of Defense. It is headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, in Bellevue, Nebraska.
The Arkansas Air National Guard, commonly known as the Arkansas Air Guard, is the aerial militia of the State of Arkansas, United States of America. It is, along with the Arkansas Army National Guard, an element of the Arkansas National Guard, and a reserve of the United States Air Force. As state militia units, the units in the Arkansas Air National Guard are not typically in the normal United States Air Force chain of command unless federalized. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Arkansas through the office of the Arkansas Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Arkansas Air National Guard is headquartered at North Little Rock, and its commander is currently Brigadier General William M. Leahy.
The 1st Weather Group is a group of the United States Air Force. It oversees all six operational weather squadrons; the 15th OWS at Scott AFB, Ill.; the 17th OWS at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii; the 21st OWS at Kapaun Air Station, Germany; the 25th OWS at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.; the 26th OWS at Barksdale AFB, La.; and the 28th OWS at Shaw AFB, SC. The 1st WXG is a subordinate of the 557th Weather Wing.
The 15th Operational Weather Squadron, based out of Scott Air Force Base, IL, is the largest Operational Weather Squadron in the Continental United States that does not have an overseas mission.
The 9th Operational Weather Squadron, based out of Shaw AFB, SC, was the Squadron responsible for weather prediction in the Southeastern United States. It was split from the 28th Operational Weather Squadron in 2006. The 9 OWS inactivated on 31 May 2008 and merged with the 26th Operational Weather Squadron located on Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.
The 26th Operational Weather Squadron, based out of Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, is the United States Air Force meteorological squadron responsible for the Southeastern United States. The current states in the Area of Responsibility (AOR) include Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and the Carolinas.
The 358th Fighter Squadron is part of the 495th Fighter Group at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The squadron was reactivated there in 2015. The squadron was formerly part of the 355th Operations Group at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, operating the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft conducting close air support missions, until its 2014 inactivation.
The 25th Attack Group is an active United States Air Force unit, stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It was activated in February 2018 as a geographically separate unit to operate unmanned aerial vehicles and is assigned to the 432d Wing, which is located at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. As of 2020, the group manages five General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper attack squadrons, as well as the 25th Operations Support Squadron, which provides intelligence, weather, and administrative support.
The 512th Rescue Squadron is part of the 58th Special Operations Wing based at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. It formerly operated the Bell UH-1N Twin Huey and currently operates the Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk and the new HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopters training aircrew conducting search and rescue missions.
The 311th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, where it was inactivated on 1 November 1949. The division was first activated in 1944 as the 311th Photographic Wing. Although it was stationed in the United States, throughout its existence, the unit was responsible for the control of long range reconnaissance units in multiple theaters.
The 84th Combat Sustainment Group is an inactive United States Air Force (USAF) group last assigned to the 84th Combat Sustainment Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, where it was inactivated in 2010. The group was formed in 1942 as the 84th Bombardment Group, one of the first dive bomber units in the United States Army Air Corps and tested the Vultee Vengeance, proving that aircraft unsuitable as a dive bomber. As an Operational Training Unit, it was the parent for several other bombardment groups, but from 1943 until it was disbanded in 1944, trained replacement aircrews as a Replacement Training Unit designated the 84th Fighter-Bomber Group.
The 52d Operations Group is the flying component of the 52d Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). The group is stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.
The 325th Operations Group is the flying component of the 325th Fighter Wing, assigned to Air Combat Command of the United States Air Force. The group is stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. It conducts training on the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and commands one operational Raptor squadron. It directs the flying and support operations of two F-22 squadrons, a fighter training squadron, an operations support squadron and a training support squadron.
The 308th Armament Systems Group is a unit of the United States Air Force's 308th Armament Systems Wing, stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The group was first activated at Gowen Field, Idaho as the 308th Bombardment Group. It served as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator unit in the China-Burma-India Theater, where it conducted long range bombing missions against Japanese forces, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation. Following V-J Day, it returned to the United States and was inactivated in January 1946.
The 55th Space Weather Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 50th Operations Group at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, where it was inactivated on 16 July 2002.
Sembach Kaserne is a United States Army post in Donnersbergkreis, Germany, near Kaiserslautern. It is approximately 19 miles (31 km) east of Ramstein Air Base. From 1995 to 2012 the installation was a United States Air Force installation known as Sembach Air Base, until it was transferred to the United States Army. Prior to 1995 it was known as Sembach Air Auxiliary Field.
The 23rd Special Operations Weather Squadron is a weather squadron of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command, based at Hurlburt Field with the 1st Special Operations Group of the 1st Special Operations Wing.
The 4th Air Support Operations Group is an active unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing. It is stationed at the Lucius D. Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany. The group's members mainly support United States Army Europe and Africa units by providing Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) airmen to army units, as well as providing weather support in Europe and Africa. Airmen from the 4th ASOG also serve as trainers at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany.