Weather Airmen Train To Support Army's JTF Fight
by U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Eugene Oliver October 7, 2019
Staff Weather Officers (SWO) from the 3d Weather Squadron (WS)
were put to the test during a Certification Field Exercise (CFX)
July 28 - August 2, 2019 at Camp Bowie Training Center, Texas.
The CFX
was designed to evaluate the squadron’s overall tactical ability and
readiness to provide the U.S. Army with full spectrum environmental
support to the Joint Task Force (JTF) fight.

Staff Weather Officers (SWO) from
the 3d Weather Squadron (WS), inspect a tactical
meteorological observing system, during a certification
field exercise (CFX), July 29, 2019 at Camp Bowie Training
Center, Texas. While deployed, the Army relies on the 3d WS
to provide them with current ground weather reports. These
reports are then employed by commanders on the ground as
they plan the best tactics and approaches to accomplish the
mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Eugene
Oliver)
|
“Weather’s bread
and butter is task force aviation,” said Staff Sgt. Jacob Raborn, 3d
Weather Squadron CFX lead planner and overall evaluator. “Mainly,
this is a mobilization exercise in training, so we are certifying
that our entire squadron can mobilize at any moment into a near peer
fight.”
The CFX brought together approximately 55 SWOs from
the 3d WS’s geographically separated detachments (DET). This was a
rare opportunity that gave their Airmen the chance to work together
as an entire squadron to build camaraderie, learn and perfect each
other’s skills.
“It’s been absolutely beneficial to bring all
the detachments together,” said Master Sgt. Ryan Kegler, 3d WS DET 1
division weather operations section chief. “Getting the chance to
understand someone else’s personality or practices that I may deploy
with is key. Now, instead of starting at step zero when we get
downrange with these Airmen, we’re already on step 2 or 3 and have
already established a base foundation to work from.
“The
biggest challenge we face at home station and downrange is the JTF
integration piece, making sure the Army understands how we fit into
their operations and that we are adequately equipped to help make
them more lethal.”
While deployed, the Army relies on the 3d
WS to provide them with current ground weather reports. These
reports are then employed by commanders on the ground as they plan
the best tactics and approaches to accomplish the mission.
“Throughout the exercise we required our Airmen to follow out the
process of how to swiftly relay information to the Army consisting
of: a situation report, commander’s update brief and operations
intelligence brief,” said Maj. Scott Towlson, 3d WS director of
operations. “We wanted to incorporate a lot of real world aspects
that we more experienced Senior NCOs and officers have come to
expect from the Army to help prepare our younger Airmen for what to
expect in the future.

Staff Weather Officers from the
3d Weather Squadron, discuss strategy during a certification
field exercise (CFX), July 31, 2019 at Camp Bowie Training
Center, Texas. The CFX immersed Airmen into all the aspects
of what could come with a deployment such as Land
Navigation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Eugene
Oliver)
|
“That’s going to make the Army more
lethal because we’re building trust, confidence and credibility,”
Towlson added. “So when that Airman goes downrange and they’re asked
a question by a specialist or aviator, it’s not the first time
they’ve heard it.”
During the 5-day exercise SWOs were
evaluated and qualified on: Tactical Operations Center procedures,
Tactical Meteorological Operations Systems aptitude, rapid forward
operating base mobility, Force on Force scenarios, counter
improvised explosive device awareness, land navigation and self-aid
buddy care.
“We wanted to expose everyone to a lot of the
uncertainty that comes with a deployment and getting them out of
their comfort zone,” said Towlson. “We had them on a 30-hour work
cycle with very limited sleep to implement that chaos and fog of war
dynamic to test their resiliency.”
While the CFX tested SWOs’
resiliency and endurance, it also immersed Airmen into all the
aspects of what could come with a deployment.
“This exercise
did a great job of giving us more of a baseline of how a contingent
operation runs in totality,” said Airman 1st Class Shelby Spahar, 3d
WS DET 3 weather forecaster. “A lot of times you can have tunnel
vision on just the specifics of your job, but this exercise forced
me to take into account everything else that could come with a
deployment.”
The CFX was ultimately geared toward improving
the 3d WS interoperability skills to continue to bolster their JTF
mission.
“Our ability to work together as teams in garrison
and when deployed (is key),” said Kegler. “The better we can
synchronize our movements and our operations as a team the better we
are at delivering actionable weather intelligence. Because that’s
really the name of the game, we need to be able to arm the
commanders with the intelligence that they need to go out and
maximize the environmental effects, so they can eliminate our
enemies or deliver aid.”
Our Valiant Troops |
Veterans |
Citizens Like Us
U.S. Air Force |
Air National Guard
|
U.S. Air Force Gifts |
U.S. Department
of Defense
|
|