Dragon Corner: Weather training excels as joint operation

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Friederich Martin
  • 335th Training Squadron
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  The 81st Training Wing's vision, "Training, Fighting, Winning," is not taken lightly in the 335th Training Squadron. The technical education provided to our non-prior service Airmen, retraining NCOs and new officers --goes far beyond teaching the basic skills needed for the job. Seasoned instructors offer valuable insight into their career fields as well as mentorship that helps graduates succeed in our dynamic military culture.

The weather training flight plays an integral and unique role in the 81st Training Wing's mission. Producing more than 430 graduates annually, the flight is a joint operation. Instructors and students represent the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard. Rigorous training prepares students for life on active duty, as well as for service in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. In addition, the weather schoolhouse works with international allies, hosting students from more than six countries around the globe. These students come together under one roof for a world-class meteorological education.

The weather training flight tailors its courses to each branch of service and level of knowledge. The Weather Initial Skills Course, commonly referred to as ISC, is the most fundamental of these courses. Students begin with the building blocks of atmospheric science and end in a simulated lab environment, where, students must function as a team to deliver weather forecast products identical to those delivered to our warfighters in the field.

This vital and realistic training could not be provided without the knowledge, expertise, and experience of dedicated instructors under the guidance of mission-oriented leadership. Most instructors within the flight--as well as the training wing as a whole--have operated in a deployed environment, and all inject real-world application into their instruction on a daily basis.

Graduates of the ISC, as well as other courses such as the Advanced Weather Exploitation and Integration Course, have developed a strong command of operational weather, and with initial skills graduates receiving 68 credit hours toward their Community College of the Air Force in Applied Science.

Graduates go on to serve on joint teams and missions world-wide. They support a vast array of missions ranging from Army support at remote Forward Operating Bases to combined exercises with NATO and allied forces.

Each and every member of our military's meteorological community has passed through the weather training complex. In keeping with the Air Force core value, "Excellence in all we do," this modern, joint-operational training environment represents true excellence.

Team Keesler, much like the weather training fight, has a continued interest in providing the best training to our Airmen in order for them to carry out the mission and uphold our Air Force values and traditions.