Weather Warrior

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - U.S. Air Force Senior Airmen Jarod Bjork, from Orlando, Fla., mans his battle-station at the Combined Joint Task Force-82’s joint operations command center, Jan10. Bjork uses advanced equipment to monitor the weather and give recommendations that are used by the war-fighters on the ground to plan and execute missions. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. B. Todd Willis, Combined Joint Task Force-82 Public Affairs)

Operation Turbulent Climb

CAMP RED CLOUD, Republic of Korea -- (From left to right) Detachment 1, 607th Weather Squadron members Senior Airman Zach Scott, Master Sgt. Geoffrey Mason and Staff Sgt. Billy Harris make their way up the hill near Camp Red Cloud during Operation Turbulent Climb. The team members ascended over 1,000 feet while carrying 65 pounds of gear and covering nearly five miles in distance. (Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Shane Gillies)

Weather or Not

U.S. Navy Aerographers Mate, Petty Officer 2nd Class Susana Awan discuses collected weather information with U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. Yong Kim in order to relay a weather hazard to pilots in flight on Dec 3, 2009. Awan and Kim work together at the 21st Weather Squadron, Sembach Annex, Germany. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Jocelyn Rich)

How's the air up there?

ILOPANGO, El Salvador – Air Force Tech. Sgt. Bill Bayer, a weather meteorologist assigned to Joint Task Force-Bravo, performs early morning weather checks measuring winds, temperature, dew point and pressure with a handheld Kestrel Nov. 14. Sergeant Bayer has been a vital piece to providing daily weather reports for the 1st Battalion, 228th Regiment during a deployment to El Salvador in order to help them stabilize the region from a recent mudslide. Since Nov. 11 JTF-Bravo has distributed more than 172,700 pounds of supplies (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Chad Thompson).

Keeping an eye on the sky...

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Tech. Sgt. Richard Stage, 386th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron weather forecaster, checks the wet bulb globe temperature reading on a hs-32 area heat stress monitor at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia Sept. 15, 2009. Sergeant Stage is deployed from the 62nd Airlift Wing, McChord Air Force Base, Wash., and hails from Elmira, N.Y. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Tony Tolley)

Weather or not to fly

Tech. Sgt. John Moore, 4th Operations Support Squadron weather technician, briefs Maj. William Lulay, 4th Fighter Wing safety office, on weather conditions at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., Sept 3, 2009. All weather personnel complete a nine-month training course at Keesler Air Force Base and travel to one of the eight weather hubs as a weather observer to receive on-the-job training before becoming a weather forecaster. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Rae Perry)