Editing 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (section)

==History==

===Operational history===
====Hurricane hunting====
Aerial reconnaissance of tropical storms first began in September 1935. In that year the [[United States Weather Bureau]] decentralized its hurricane warning system, which depended to a great extent on reports from ships at sea, opening three warning centers in [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]]; [[Jacksonville, Florida]]; and [[New Orleans, Louisiana]]. In August the Jacksonville center followed the progress of a developing hurricane east of the [[Bahamas]], determining that it would pass through the [[Straits of Florida]] and strike the north coast of [[Cuba]]. It contacted the Cuban weather service when ship information was no longer available, but track of the storm was lost when the Cubans observed no evidence of it. Acting on a report from a [[Pan American Airlines]] pilot, a weather observation flight was requested of the Cuban Army Air Corps and on 2 September 1935 its chief training pilot, American expatriate Capt. Leonard J. Povey, volunteered to locate the system. Although he was unable to penetrate the storm in his open-cockpit [[Curtiss F11C Goshawk|Curtiss Hawk II]] biplane, Povey provided information that indicated the hurricane was moving north into the [[Florida Keys]].<ref>[https://noaahrd.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/80th-anniversary-of-the-labor-day-hurricane-and-first-hurricane-reconnaissance/ "80th Anniversary of the Labor Day Hurricane and first hurricane reconnaissance"], NOAA Hurricane Research Division. Retrieved 6 September 2015.</ref> The destructiveness of the [[1935 Labor Day hurricane]] prompted Povey to recommend a regular aerial hurricane patrol.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=esI0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=r4UFAAAAIBAJ&pg=738%2C2516662 Cuba May Use Planes to Scout for Hurricanes], AP, Schenectady Gazette, 23 Sept. 1935, p. 7]</ref>{{efn|Leonard James Povey was born in 1904 in [[Nashua, New Hampshire]] and served in the [[United States Army Air Service]] from 1922 to 1925. Also a [[barnstorming|barnstormer]], he was recruited in 1934 by Col. [[Fulgencio Batista]] to reorganize the Cuban air force. Nicknamed "Upside-Down Povey", he is credited with inventing the [[Cuban Eight]] aerobatic maneuver in 1936 while flying a demonstration at an air show in Florida. In 1938 he returned to the United States to become a flight test inspector for the new Civil Aeronautics Authority (precursor to the FAA), and in 1941 became vice president of flying operations at the [[Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University|Embry-Riddle School of Aviation]]. During World War II he worked for [[Fairchild Aircraft]] developing training aircraft. ([http://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/general/Povey.pdf Biography of Len Povey], University of Texas at Dallas).}}

The [[1943 Surprise Hurricane]], which struck [[Houston]] during World War II, marked the first intentional meteorological flight into a hurricane. That summer, British pilots being trained as instrument instructor pilots at [[Riverside Campus|Bryan Army Airfield]] heard that the school was evacuating its [[T-6 Texan|AT-6 Texan]] trainers in the face of the oncoming hurricane, and began teasing their instructors about the airworthiness of the aircraft. Instrument flying school commander [[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF]] [[Lieutenant Colonel (United States)|Lt. Col.]] [[Joseph Duckworth|Joseph B. Duckworth]], a former airline pilot with [[Eastern Airlines]] who had developed instrument procedures for the carrier, bet his RAF students that he could safely fly into the storm and return. On 27 July 1943 he took out one of the trainers with [[Lieutenant|2nd Lt]] Ralph M. O'Hair [[navigation|navigating]] and flew it straight into the eye of the storm. After he returned safely, the base's only weather officer, 1st Lt William H. Jones-Burdick, took over the navigator's seat and Duckworth flew into the storm (now over land) a second time, this time recording their observations and measuring temperatures within the storm.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bob Sheets |author2=Jack Williams | title=Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth | publisher=Vintage| isbn= 0-375-70390-X| year=2001}}, pp. 98–100</ref><ref name="sfss">{{cite news|url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-first-hurricane-flight-20130725,0,7436751.story |title=First 'hurricane hunter' flight was made on a bet |last=Kaye |first=Ken |date=25 July 2013 |work=South Florida Sun-Sentinel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727163711/http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-first-hurricane-flight-20130725%2C0%2C7436751.story |archive-date=27 July 2013 |access-date=27 July 2013 }}</ref> The flights demonstrated that hurricane reconnaissance flights were feasible.<ref name="53fs">{{cite web|url=https://www.403wg.afrc.af.mil/About/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/192529/53rd-weather-reconnaissance-squadron-hurricane-hunters/|title=53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron 'Hurricane Hunters' Fact Sheet|publisher=403rd Wing AFRC|access-date=2 September 2010}}</ref><ref name="noaa">{{cite web |author=Fincher, Lew |author2=Read, Bill | url= http://www.history.noaa.gov/stories_tales/surprise.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527233542/http://www.history.noaa.gov/stories_tales/surprise.html |archive-date=2010-05-27 |title = The 1943 "Surprise" Hurricane| publisher =NOAA.gov| access-date=30 August 2010}}</ref>

24 days later, on 19 August 1943, the AAF weather station at [[Waller Air Force Base|Waller Field]], [[Trinidad]], recorded unusually low pressures and received a similar report from [[Beane Air Force Base|Beane Field]] on [[Saint Lucia]]. Together with a report of high winds to the east from a U.S. Navy aircraft landing at Naval Operating Base Trinidad, the data prompted the first weather reconnaissance mission to locate a previously unreported tropical disturbance, which was flown the next morning. The flight, made by a [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25 Mitchell]] medium bomber assigned to the [[25th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing|25th Bombardment Group]] (an anti-submarine unit at nearby [[Carlsen Air Force Base|Edinburgh Field]]), proceeded from Waller to [[Barbados]] and then due east at altitudes between {{convert|8000|and|600|ft|abbr=on}} into the heart of [[1943 Atlantic hurricane season#Hurricane Three|Hurricane III of 1943]]. Using standard navigational position fixes, the mission plotted observations inflight on a chart as they proceeded and transmitted them to Beane Field for relay to Waller and [[Borinquen Field]], [[Puerto Rico]].{{efn|The B-25, serial 43-5052, was flown by Capt. R.A. Field of the [[10th Bombardment Squadron]] and carried weather officers Major I.I. Porush, Captain J. R. Fleming, and 1st Lt. P.W. Allen. A second flight, similar to Duckworth's, took off from [[Antigua]] with weather officer Capt. C.H. MacDougall aboard and also observed the storm.}}<ref>Tannehill, pp. 92–93</ref>

====53rd WRS history====
The 53rd WRS was activated on 7 August 1944 at [[Presque Isle Army Air Field]], Maine, originally as the 3 WRS.<ref name=53WRSfacts/><ref name="53wrsh"/> Many of its missions were flown from a forward base at [[Gander, Newfoundland]], using B-25s. Its original mission was to fly weather tracks along aircraft ferry routes between North America and Allied Western Europe. During the 1946 season, when the 53d WRS acquired the Boeing RB-29 (later [[Boeing B-29 Superfortress variants#WB-29|WB-29]]) Superfortress as its primary aircraft, the term "Hurricane Hunters" was first used to describe its missions. While not an ideal weather reconnaissance platform, the WB-29 proved to be comparatively safe and reliable. The first medium level penetration of a hurricane took place on 19 October 1947 by an RB-29 of the 53d WRS into [[1947 Atlantic hurricane season#Hurricane Ten (Love)|Hurricane Love]] near Bermuda, validating penetration of tropical storms at lower altitudes as reasonably safe.<ref name="b29wr"/>

From Gander, the squadron moved to New Hampshire; Florida; [[Kindley Air Force Base|Kindley Field]], Bermuda; [[RAF Burtonwood]], England, with forward basing at [[Dhahran]], Saudi Arabia; Bermuda for a short time, and [[Hunter Air Force Base]], Georgia. In 1966, now flying the [[Lockheed WC-130]], the 53rd WRS once again left the continental United States, this time for [[Ramey Air Force Base]], Puerto Rico. When Ramey closed in 1973, the Hurricane Hunters relocated to their present location at Keesler AFB, Mississippi.<ref name="53fs"/>
[[Image:Boeing WB-29A 462090 53 WRS BWD 09.54 edited-5.jpg|thumb|right|53rd WRS Boeing WB-29A weathership landing at its base at RAF Burtonwood in 1954]]
[[Image:Boeing B-50 (WB-50D) 9261 MATS Burtonwood 29.04.56 edited-2.jpg|thumb|right|53rd WRS Boeing WB-50D weathership landing at RAF Burtonwood in 1956. The observation and sampling station is on top of the rear fuselage]]
On 18 September 1953, while based at Kindley, Bermuda, the squadron suffered its only mission-related loss of an aircraft, a WB-29.{{efn|''Swan 38'', a WC-130H of the 53rd's sister [[54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron]], was lost on 12 October 1974, while flying an alpha pattern into [[Typhoon Bess (1974)|Typhoon Bess]] 400 miles northeast of [[Clark Air Base]] in the Philippines. The Hurricane Hunter Association established the Swan 38 Memorial Scholarship for outstanding students in the 403rd Wing. ([http://www.hurricanehunters.com/swan38.htm Swan 38 Scholarship]).}} Returning to base with a runaway propeller{{hsp}}{{clarify|date=September 2017}} on the inboard engine of the right wing, the propeller separated from its shaft and struck the engine beside it, causing both the wing and outboard engine to catch fire. The pilot ordered an immediate bailout, but the aircraft went out of control and only three of the 10-man crew survived.<ref name="crash">{{cite web | url= http://www.awra.us/gallery-may05.html|title =Gone, But Not Forgotten| publisher = Air Weather Reconnaissance Association| access-date=2 September 2010}}</ref>{{efn|The WB-29 was serial 44-62277, a converted B-29A.}}

In 1965 the 53rd WRS became the first squadron of the Air Weather Service to operate the WC-130 after its designation as such, and from Ramey flew the first WC-130 Hurricane Hunter mission on 27 August 1965, penetrating the eye of [[Hurricane Betsy]].<ref name="fuller355">Fuller, John F. (1990). ''Thor's Legions: Weather Support to the U.S. Air Force and Army, 1937–1987''. Boston, MA: American Meteorological Society. {{ISBN|978-0-933876-88-0}}, p. 355</ref>

In the 1970s, after its move to Keesler, the 53rd participated in two "firsts" in the changing of regulations to permit women to be qualify as aircrew. Sgt. Vickiann Esposito became the first female dropsonde operator and possibly the first fully qualified aircrew member (excepting flight nurses) in Air Force history, approved by [[United States Department of the Air Force#Headquarters Air Force|Headquarters Air Force]] in December 1973 as a waiver of the regulation prohibiting the assignment of women, over the initial objections of the commanding general of the Air Mobility Command. In October 1977, after the regulation had been rescinded, 1st Lt. Florence Fowler became one of the first two women to be [[U.S. Air Force aeronautical rating|rated]] as navigators (now [[combat systems officer]]s).<ref>Fuller (1990), p. 348</ref>{{efn|Lt. Fowler's navigation school classmate 1st Lt. Ramona L. Roybal became a WC-135 navigator with the 55th WRS at McClellan AFB at the same time. A month earlier, the first rated female pilot, 2nd Lt. Carole A. Scherer, had been assigned to fly WC-130s with the 54th WRS. The first Aerial Reconnaissance Weather Officer (ARWO) was 1st Lt. Nancy E. Holtgard, who was also assigned to the 54th WRS on Guam.}}

In 1976, the [[815th Tactical Airlift Squadron]] of the Air Force Reserve, also based at Keesler, was redesignated the 815th Weather Squadron "Storm Trackers" and served as an associate squadron to the 53rd until 1987, when the 815th reverted to a tactical airlift unit because of reduced numbers of WC-130s. The Regular Air Force's 53rd WRS was inactivated in June 1991 for budgetary reasons and its assets and personnel transferred to the 815th TAS, which formed a flight to assume the weather recon mission while continuing its airlift role as well. On 1 November 1993, as a result of the impact of [[Hurricane Andrew]] the year before, the 53rd WRS was reactivated as a full-time Air Force Reserve squadron to take over the weather reconnaissance mission from the 815th AS.<ref name="53wrsh">{{cite web | url= http://www.hurricanehunters.com/history.htm|title = The History of the Hurricane Hunters| publisher = Hurricane Hunters Association.com| access-date=2 September 2010}}</ref>

The WC-130H airframes flown by the 53rd WRS were originally built in 1964–65 as C-130Es. Hurricane Andrew had also demonstrated a need for upgraded models to continue the Hurricane Hunter mission, and funding for ten replacements was authorized by Congress in FY1998. On 11 October 1999, the 53rd WRS received its first Lockheed WC-130, and flew its first hurricane mission in the new model on 16 November, into [[Hurricane Lenny]]. Problems with the new model, primarily damage to its [[composite material]] 6-bladed propellers from hail and ice and a lack of sensitivity in its color radar images, delayed its Initial Operational Capability until just before the 2005 hurricane season. The propeller problem was overcome by bonding a metal sleeve to the leading edge of each blade and the radar issue by changes in the radar software coding.<ref name="wc">{{cite web | last =Robison| first =Tom| url= http://www.awra.us/WhiskeyCharlie.html#10|title = Whiskey-Charlie| publisher = Air Weather Reconnaissance Association| access-date=3 September 2010}}, notes 10–11</ref>

While in conversion to the new airframe, the unit continued its mission of aerial weather reconnaissance and added a new weather-related mission type in 2003, using the WC-130Js to drop buoys ahead of impending tropical storms. In 2004, the unit started training to support tactical airlift missions in addition to its weather mission. The landfall of [[Hurricane Katrina]] on 29 August 2005 caused devastating damage to Keesler. An estimated one-third of the members of the parent 403rd Wing lost a home or had it extensively damaged.<ref name="nlm"/> Yet the equipment and personnel of the squadron, flying out of [[Dobbins Air Reserve Base]] near [[Atlanta, Georgia]] when the hurricane struck, never missed a tasked mission during Katrina or follow-up storms.<ref name="53fs"/>

The operations of the 53rd WRS were affected by the [[budget sequestration in 2013|federal budget sequestration of 2013]]. Furloughs of personnel, amounting to two days in every pay period per member, resulted in a 20% cut in capability, according to the wing commander of the 403rd Wing on 24 July 2013. While sequestration was in effect, this meant the squadron was capable of working only two storms simultaneously at full mission scheduling instead of the normal three, and that pace sustainable only for five or six days.<ref>[http://www.wlox.com/story/22925515/hurricane-hunters-flying-two-storms-difficult-three-impossible?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9128912#.UfEuJyuZkng.facebook Hurricane Hunters: Flying two storms difficult, three impossible], Danielle Thomas, WLOX-TV, Biloxi, MS (Retrieved 25 July 2013)</ref>