The 9th Operational Weather Squadron (9 OWS), based out of

Shaw AFB Shaw Air Force Base (Shaw AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately west-northwest of downtown Sumter, South Carolina. It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, and is under the jurisdict ...

, SC, was the Squadron responsible for weather prediction in the Southeastern United States. It was split from the

28th Operational Weather Squadron The 28th Operational Weather Squadron (28th OWS), is an operational weather squadron responsible for supporting USCENTCOM operations. Mission The 28th Operational Weather Squadron is responsible for producing and disseminating mission planning ...

in 2006. The 9 OWS inactivated on 31 May 2008 and merged with the

26th Operational Weather Squadron The 26th Operational Weather Squadron (26OWS), based out of Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, is the US Air Force meteorological squadron responsible for the Southeastern United States. The current states in the Area of Responsibility (A ...

located on Barksdale AFB,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Mission

The 9th Operational Weather Squadron was responsible for producing and disseminating mission planning and execution weather analyses, forecasts, and briefings for

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, Guard, Reserve,

USSTRATCOM United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterr ...

, and

USNORTHCOM United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) is one of eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense. The command is tasked with providing military support for Civil authority, non-military authorities in the U ...

forces operating at 40 installations/sites in a 4 state region of the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

. The 9th weather squadron was responsible for base or post forecasting, developing weather products, briefing transient aircrews, and weather warnings for all of their geographical units. Using automatic observing systems located at all military installations and communicating with their combat weather flights, the squadron was able to 'watch' the weather in their entire area of responsibility from one central location.

Cold War History

For much of the Cold War, the 9th Weather Squadron was based at

March ARB March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB) is located in Riverside County, California between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fo ...

, California. The squadron oversaw weather detachments at

15th Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...

bases of the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

primarily in the western United States. It was inactivated in 1991 as part of a larger Air Force reorganization.

History as an Operational Weather Squadron

On 20 July 2006, the 28th Operational Weather Squadron was split into the USCENTCOM which would stay the 28th Operational Weather Squadron, and the 9th Operational Weather Squadron was reactivated, which would continue the

CONUS ''Conus'' is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...

based operations. The squadron was inactivated in 2008.

Personnel and resources

9th Operational Weather Squadron's manning consisted of active duty, reserve, civilian and contract personnel and was located on Shaw Air Force Base, SC., under the

1st Weather Group The 1st Weather Group (1 WXG) is a group of the United States Air Force. It oversees all six operational weather squadrons; the 15th OWS at Scott AFB, Ill.; the 17th OWS at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii; the 21st OWS at Kapaun Air ...

Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the Air ...

, NE.

Emblem

Against the background of blue, which depicts the sky, the primary theater of Air Force operations, the directional arrowhead represents the three main air routes served by the unit when it was organized in 1942. The stars allude to the squadron's mission of support for multiple unified commands and military installations in the Southeastern United States, with the number of stars indicating its numerical designation, the large star denoting its Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. The three-cup anemometer is emblematic of the weather mission. The hurricane represents the tropics, the unit's first area of operations and the most severe that threatens its area of operation. The emblem bears the national colors of red, white, and blue and the Air Force colors of golden yellow and ultramarine blue.http%3A%2F%2Fwww.airweaassn.org%3w%2FAFW%2520Our%2520Heritage%25201937-2012%2FAFW_37_12%2F0403_Squadron_Linages_%2520v3.doc

Lineage

* Constituted as the 9th Weather Squadron : Activated on 17 July 1942 : Inactivated on 30 June 1972 : Activated on 1 January 1975 : Inactivated on 15 July 1992 * Redesignated 9th Operational Weather Squadron : Activated on 20 Jul 2006 : Inactivated on 24 June 2008

Assignments

* Caribbean Wing,

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

, 17 June 1942 *

Flight Control Command Flight Control Command was a command of the United States Army Air Forces, active from 29 March 1943 – 1 October 1943. It supervised the Continental United States weather and communications services previously provided by the USAAF Directorate ...

, ''ca''. 1943 * Weather Wing, Flight Control Command (later Army Air Forces Weather Wing), May 1943 * 68th Army Air Forces Base Unit (101st Weather Group), 1944 * 101st Weather Group (later 2101st Weather Group), 3 June 1948 * 2059th Air Weather Wing, 1 October 1950 * 2101st Air Weather Group, 1 August 1951 *

, 1 April 1952 *

3d Weather Wing 3-D, 3D, or 3d may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Relating to three-dimensionality * Three-dimensional space ** 3D computer graphics, computer graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data ** 3D film, a ...

, 1 October 1956 - 30 June 1972 * 3d Weather Wing, 1 January 1975 - 15 July 1992 * 1st Weather Group, 20 July 2006 – 24 June 2008

Stations

* Morrison Field, Florida 17 June 1942 * Borrinquen Field (later

Ramey Air Force Base Ramey Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It was named after United States Army Air Forces Brigadier General Howard Knox Ramey. Following its closure, it was redeveloped into Rafael Hernandez Airpo ...

), Puerto Rico, ''ca'' December 1942 * March Air Force Base, California, unknown - 30 June 1972 * March Air Force Base, California, 1 January 1975 - 15 July 1992 * Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, 20 July 2006 – 24 June 2008

References

External links

28WS/28OWS/9OWS Article

28WS/28OWS/9OWS Article

28OWS/9OWS Article

28OWS/9OWS Article
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