Editing 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (section)

====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>