Editing 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (section)

{{Outdated as of|2022|5|25|topic=current commander}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron
[[File:AFR Shield.svg|center|60px]]
| image                         = WC-130J Hercules of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.jpg
| image_size                    = 300
| caption                       = WC-130J of the 53rd WRS
| dates                         = 1944–1947, 1951–1960, 1962–1991, 1993–present
| country                       = {{USA}}
| branch                        = {{air force|USA}}
| type                          = Squadron
| role                          = [[Tropical cyclone]] weather reconnaissance
| size                          = 10 aircraft, 20 flight crews
| command_structure             = [[Air Force Reserve Command]]
* [[Twenty-Second Air Force]]
** [[403rd Wing]]
*** [[403rd Operations Group]]
| current_commander             = LtCol Stephen Pituch
| garrison                      = [[Keesler Air Force Base]], Mississippi
| ceremonial_chief              = 
| colonel_of_the_regiment       = 
| nickname                      = Hurricane Hunters
| patron                        = 
| motto                         = 
| colors                        = 
| march                         = 
| mascot                        = 
| battles                       = 
| anniversaries                 = 
| battle_honours                = 
| battle_honours_label          = 
| disbanded                     = 
| flying_hours                  = 
| website                       = 
| decorations                   = [[Meritorious Unit Commendation]]<br/>[[Air Force Outstanding Unit Award]]
<!-- Commanders -->| commander1                    = 
| commander1_label              = 
| notable_commanders            = <!-- Insignia -->
| identification_symbol         = [[Image:Hurricane Hunters.png|150px]]
| identification_symbol_label   = 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron emblem <small>(1995)</small><ref name=53WRSfacts>{{cite web|url=http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10264|title=53 Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (AFRC)|last=Robertson|first=Patsy|date=20 February 2015|publisher=AFHRA|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150927093312/http://www.afhra.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=10264|archive-date=September 27, 2015|access-date=December 18, 2023}}</ref>{{efn|The emblem was personally modified by the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, but the changes were registered, but not approved formally. Robertson Factsheet, 53 Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (AFRC).}}
| identification_symbol_2       = [[File:53d WRS Hurricane Hunters.png|150px]]
| identification_symbol_2_label = 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron emblem <small>(approved 1 April 1963)</small><ref name=Markus>Markus, ''et al''., p. 142</ref>
| identification_symbol_3       = [[File:53 Reconnaissance Sq emblem.png|150px]]
| identification_symbol_3_label = 53rd Reconnaissance Squadron emblem <small>(approved 15 November 1945)<ref name=Markus/></small>
<!-- Aircraft -->| aircraft_recon                = [[WC-130J Hercules]]<br/>[[WB-47E Stratojet]]<br/>[[WB-50D Superfortress]]<br/>[[B-29 Superfortress variants#WB-29|WB-29A/B-29A Superfortress]]<br/>[[B-17 Flying Fortress variants|RB-17/TB-17 Flying Fortress]]<br/>[[B-25 Mitchell|B-25/WB-25D Mitchell]]
}}

[[File:USAF WC-130 running through pre-engine start-up inspections.jpg|thumb|A WC-130J Hercules aircraft weather loadmaster of the 53rd WRS performs pre-engine start-up inspection in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, on 16 September 2010. The SFMR antenna housing is visible under the starboard wing outboard of the number four engine.]]
The '''53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron''', also known by its nickname, '''Hurricane Hunters''', is a flying unit of the [[United States Air Force]], and "the only [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes."<ref name="nhcwr">{{cite web | year =2012 | url= http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/recon.php|title = NHC Aircraft Reconnaissance| publisher = National Hurricane Center| access-date=25 August 2012}}</ref> Aligned under the [[403rd Wing]] of the [[Air Force Reserve Command]] (AFRC) and based at [[Keesler Air Force Base]], [[Mississippi]], with ten aircraft, it flies into [[tropical cyclone]]s in the Atlantic Ocean, the [[Caribbean Sea]], the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and the [[Pacific Ocean|Central Pacific Ocean]] for the specific purpose of directly measuring [[weather]] data in and around those storms. The 53rd WRS currently operates the [[Lockheed WC-130J]] aircraft as its weather data collection platform.

The squadron was activated in 1944 during World War II as the 3rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, tracking weather in the North Atlantic between North America and Europe. Redesignated the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron in 1945, the term "Hurricane Hunters" was first applied to its activities in 1946. The 53rd became a part of the USAF before its inactivation in 1947, was reactivated in 1951 as a long range weather reconnaissance unit based in [[Bermuda]] and England, and since 1963 has been based in the [[The Deep South|southern United States]] or in [[Puerto Rico]] with its primary mission the measurement of tropical cyclones. The 53rd WRS moved to its present home station at Keesler AFB in 1973, and after being briefly inactivated again between 1991 and 1993, became an Air Force Reserve unit.

The Hurricane Hunters of the Air Force Reserve are distinct from those of the [[Department of Commerce]]'s [[NOAA Hurricane Hunters]], based at [[Lakeland Linder International Airport]], Florida,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/aircraft-operations|title=NOAA Aircraft Operations|date=7 July 2017|website=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|access-date=6 September 2017|archive-date=4 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904232721/https://www.omao.noaa.gov/learn/aircraft-operations}}</ref> who use a pair of [[Lockheed WP-3D Orion]] and a [[Gulfstream IV-SP]] aircraft to also fly weather reconnaissance, data collection and scientific research missions. In accordance with its [[memorandum of agreement]] with NOAA, AFRC maintains a capability in the 53rd WRS for five sorties per day from its home station and two deployed locations in support of requirements for the National Hurricane Operations Plan, or two sorties a day during winter storm seasons. The 53rd also provides a subunit, the Chief, Aerial Reconnaissance Coordination, All Hurricanes ("CARCAH"), at the [[National Hurricane Center]] to coordinate the activities of both organizations.<ref name="nhopappf">{{cite web|url=http://www.ofcm.gov/nhop/15/pdf/FCM-P12-2015.pdf|title=National Hurricane Operations Plan 2015|publisher=Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621023508/http://www.ofcm.gov/nhop/15/pdf/FCM-P12-2015.pdf|archive-date=21 June 2015|access-date=11 February 2016}}, Appendix F.</ref>

Concurrent with its operational mission, the 53rd WRS is also tasked with recruiting, organizing and training assigned personnel to perform aerial weather reconnaissance, and its air crews are qualified to handle tactical airlift missions.