| 21st Operational Weather Squadron | |
|---|---|
 21st Operational Weather Squadron Patch | |
| Active | 1 December 1997—present [1] |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | 557th Weather Wing |
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Weather Surveillance |
| Part of | United States Air Force/557th Weather Wing |
| Garrison/HQ | Kapaun Air Station |
The 21st Operational Weather Squadron provides weather support for all US Air Force and Army in the European and Africa Commands and is based at Kapaun Air Station, Germany.
The 21st Operational Weather Squadron provides highly accurate, timely and relevant environmental situational awareness to Air Force, Navy, and Army Commanders operating in US European Command in partnership with NATO. The 21st OWS is responsible for producing and disseminating mission planning and execution weather analyses, terminal aerodrome forecasts, and briefings for Air Force, Army, SHAPE, EUCOM, AFRICOM, USAFE, USAREUR, SOCEUR, and NAVEUR forces operating at 491 DoD installations/sites encompassing 92 countries and 23M square miles within the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East.
This weather squadron is responsible for base or post forecasting, developing weather products, briefing transient aircrews, and weather warnings for all of their geographical units. Using automatic observing systems located at all military installations and communicating with their combat weather flights, the squadron is able to 'watch' the weather in their entire area of responsibility from one central location.
The Operational Weather Squadron is the first place a newly schooled weather apprentice will report. At the squadron, working alongside a seasoned weather professional, the forecaster is trained in all aspects of Air Force meteorology, from pilot briefing to tactical forecasting.
The weather squadron works closely with the combat weather flights they support to ensure a flawless exchange of weather information.
21st Operational Weather Squadron's manning consists of active duty, civilian and contract personnel and is located on Kapaun Air Station, Germany, as an Air Combat Command tenant unit of Ramstein Air Base, Germany (USAFE).
Activations and inactivations of the 21st Operational Weather Squadron:
List of duty assignments and parent units from 1997 to present.
The unit insignia was approved on 20 August 1998.
Blue and yellow are the Air Force colors. Blue alludes to the sky, the primary theater of Air Force operations. The knight represents the unit's readiness and its dedication to support the warfighter and its role as a "keeper of peace". He leaps over a weather vane symbolizing a commander's ability to overcome adverse weather conditions due to accurate weather information provided by the squadron. The horse signifies the unit's key mission of carrying tailored intelligence information to operational customers and the ability to complete the Air Force mission. The lance carried by the knight denotes the squadron as the "tip" of weather forecasting services reaching into the theater to make a difference; the shield connotes the ability to safeguard those who may be in harm's way. The wind anemometer within the shield is a standard trademark for Air Force weather personnel and a key tool for the craft. The developing thunderstorm in the background symbolizes the weather hazards that may impede combat operations.
The unit has received the following awards:
The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in Europe and Africa, and operations and support activities in the U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command's areas of responsibility. It also has a unique mission as the U.S. military's primary liaison to the British government, which is conducted through the command's 3 AF-UK headquarters at RAF Mildenhall, England.
The 557th Weather Wing is a United States Air Force formation and its lead military meteorology center. It delivers environmental situational awareness worldwide to the Air Force, the 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 527th Space Aggressor Squadron is a United States Space Force unit assigned to the Space Training and Readiness Delta (Provisional). The unit traces its lineage to the 312th Bombardment Squadron (Light) constituted in 1942. It presents realistic adversary threats to US and allied military forces to improve their training for space-associated operations. It is stationed at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. Its present form dates from its activation as part of the United States Air Force in 2000. That year it was activated as part of the Space Warfare Centre, but it was then transferred to the 57th Adversary Tactics Group in 2006. With the formation of the Space Force in 2019, the squadron was part of the second wave of transfers and reorganizations which took place in mid-2020.
The 607th Weather Combat Squadron of the U.S. Air Force has overall responsibility for planning, providing, and/or arranging weather support for the United States Army during armistice conditions in Korea. 607 CWS and elements of the US Navy and US Marines support the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) Weather Wing, Combined Meteorological and Oceanographic (METOC) Officer (CMO) and subordinate squadrons during exercises and contingencies. The 607 WS commander is also the Joint METOC Officer (JMO) and the senior US METOC officer (SMO) for the Korean Theater of Operations (KTO).
The 104th Fighter Wing is a unit of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, stationed at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, Westfield, Massachusetts. When activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command.
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 25th Operational Weather Squadron, based out of Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, is the Squadron responsible for the Western United States; the current states in the Area of Responsibility (AoR) are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
The 26th Operational Weather Squadron (26OWS), based out of Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, is the US 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 28th Operational Weather Squadron, is an operational weather squadron responsible for supporting USCENTCOM operations.
The 11th Operational Weather Squadron (11OWS) was an operational weather squadron of the United States Air Force. The squadron was based out of Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, and was responsible for forecasting Alaska's weather and analyzing its climate.
The 20th Operational Weather Squadron which provided forecasts for the Air Force and Army in Japan and South Korea, is now inactive following the transfer of its mission to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii on April 17, 2006.
The 17th Operational Weather Squadron is a unit of the military of the United States. Based at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, it covers weather for the largest geographical area in the world.
The United States Space Force's 1st Space Operations Squadron is a space operations unit located at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. The squadron is responsible for performance launch, on-orbit, emergency, end-of-life testing and disposal operations providing warning, navigation, R&D, surveillance and weather to the president and the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and nine combatant commanders worldwide.
The 2d Systems Operations Squadron, stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, delivers global environmental intelligence products and services for the defense of the United States of America and its global interests through the 24 × 7 operation, sustainment and maintenance of Air Force Weather's strategic center computer complex, production network, and applications.
The 50th Operations Group was a component of the 50th Space Wing, assigned to the United States Space Operation Command from 1991 to 2020. The group is stationed at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.
The 36th Operations Group is the operational component of the 36th Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces. The group is stationed at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
The 17th Test Squadron is a United States Space Force test and evaluation unit, located at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. The squadron is tasked with testing and evaluating space systems and associated support equipment.
The 7th Combat Weather Squadron, based out of Wiesbaden, Germany, is a United States Air Force squadron providing weather intelligence to United States Army Europe (USAREUR) and United States Army Africa (USARAF) forces across the United States European Command (USEUCOM) and United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM) domains.
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