Welcome Aboard, Sir
Lt. Gen. John A. Bradley, commander of the Air Force Reserve Command, exchanges greetings with Lt. Col. Jon Talbot, aerial reconnaissance weather officer for the "Hurricane Hunters". General Bradley recently toured the WC-130J as the Citizen Airmen of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron prepare for beginning of hurricane season, which started June 1.
The Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters are the only operational weather reconnaissance squadron in the world and have already flown Subtropical Storm Andrea in early May.
This season, the state-of-the-art WC-130J will be equipped with the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer, which continuously measures surface winds and rainfall rates occurring below the aircraft. The data collected by the Hurricane Hunters increase the accuracy of the National Hurricane Center Forecast up to 30 percent. (Air Force Photo/ Maj. Chad E. Gibson)