Tinker AFB Weather Flight and NWC planning new partnership

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  • By Daisy Grant, Staff Writer

 

Members of the Tinker Air Force Base 72nd Operations Support Squadron, Weather Flight is further developing the relationship between Tinker AFB, the National Weather Center and the University of Oklahoma, starting with a conference held Sept. 10 at the NWC in Norman, Oklahoma.

Researchers from the NWC, professors from the OU College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences and military members from Air Force and Army installations across Oklahoma attended the conference, Tinker AFB Weather Flight Commander Capt. John Martin said.

He said representatives from each installation gave a brief overview of the assets and missions they provide weather support for, and people from the NWC and OU discussed their projects and research.

Tinker AFB’s weather flight communicates regularly with the NWC, however the organizations forecast weather for different areas, therefore methods vary, he said.

“It’s a different kind of forecasting. We forecast just for the military installation, specifically the Tinker airfield, our civil partners are forecasting for counties and the rest of the state of Oklahoma. So it’s a different kind of style they have,” Martin said.

Weather Flight Chief Senior Master Sgt. Philip Mohr said the conference was a starting point, and the weather flight intends to synchronize Air Force weather leadership with civil counterparts to enable sharing of industry knowledge from partner research and experience.

“One of the main things that stood out to me during the conference was the benefit of sharing information. (The conference) was very insightful. There are a lot of smart people there,” Mohr said.

Martin said what the future relationship between Tinker AFB and the NWC will look like is yet to be seen.

“We do such similar work, it’s always good to be in contact with them. Especially being here in Oklahoma, they’re right there in our backyard. It’s good for networking,” Martin said.