KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

St. Lucia's Senior Minister Stephenson King learns about the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron mission and how they collect weather data to improve National Hurricane Center forecasts April 19, 2024, during the Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour. More than 13,000 people attended this year's event at Nassau, Bahamas, Barbados, St. Lucia and Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, April 16-20, 2024. Dignitaries, students and the public toured the aircraft to learn how scientists collect hurricane information. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Marnee A.C. Losurdo) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

U.S. Ambassador Roger F. Nyhus and Barbados Ministry of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams toured the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s WC-130J aircraft April 18, 2024, at Barbados during the Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour. NOAA hurricane specialists and the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron “Hurricane Hunters” visited four Caribbean locations to discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience and how people can become weather ready. As part of the event, dignitaries, students and the public toured the aircraft to learn how scientists collect hurricane information to improve National Hurricane Center forecasts. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Marnee A.C. Losurdo) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

National Hurricane Center Director Mike Brennan explains to U.S. Ambassador Roger F. Nyhus how the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center collect weather data to improve forecasts during the Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour April 18, 2024. More than 13,000 people attended this year's event April 16-20, 2024, which stopped at Nassau, Bahamas, Barbados, St. Lucia and Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Dignitaries, students and the public toured the aircraft to learn about the mission and to promote a culture of preparedness for the 2024 hurricane season. (U.S. Air Force photo/Lt. Col. Marnee A.C. Losurdo) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

Col. William Magee, 403rd Maintenance Group commander, answers students' questions about the WC-130J aircraft and how maintainers assist with the U.S. Air Force Reserve “Hurricane Hunter” mission during the Caribbean Hurricane Awareness tour at Nassau, Bahamas, April 16, 2024. NOAA hurricane specialists and the 403rd Wing Reserve Citizen Airmen visited four Caribbean locations April 16-20, 2024, to discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience, and how people can become weather ready. As part of the event, dignitaries, students and the public toured the aircraft to learn how scientists collect hurricane information to improve National Hurricane Center forecasts. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Marnee A.C. Losurdo) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

Tech. Sgt. Larry Banks, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron loadmaster, shows students video of him performing his duties and how the unit collects weather data to improve National Hurricane Center forecasts during the Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour at Nassau, Bahamas, April 16, 2024. NOAA hurricane specialists and the 403rd Wing Reserve Citizen Airmen visited four Caribbean locations April 16-20, 2024, to discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience and how people can become weather ready. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Marnee A.C. Losurdo) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

Lt. Col. Kait Mclaughlin, 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron aerial reconnaissance weather officer, answers questions from the media during the Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour April 16, 2024, at Nassau, Bahamas. NOAA hurricane specialists and the 403rd Wing’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Airmen visited four Caribbean locations April 16-20, 2024, to discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience and how people can become weather ready. As part of the event, dignitaries, students and the public toured the aircraft to learn how scientists collect hurricane information to improve National Hurricane Center forecasts. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Marnee A.C. Losurdo) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

National Hurricane Center Director Mike Brennan answers questions from the media during the Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour April 16, 2024, at Nassau, Bahamas. NOAA hurricane specialists and the 403rd Wing’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Airmen visited four Caribbean locations April 16-20, 2024, to discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience, and how people can become weather ready. Dignitaries, students and the public toured the aircraft to learn about the mission and to promote a culture of preparedness for the 2024 hurricane season. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Marnee A.C. Losurdo) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

Commander Danielle Varwig, NOAA Corps G-IV pilot and deputy chief of the Aircraft Maintenance Branch, talks to the media during the Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour April 16, 2024, at Nassau, Bahamas. The NOAA Aircraft Operations Center and U.S. Air Force Reserve “Hurricane Hunters” work together to collect weather data for National Hurricane Center forecasts. NOAA hurricane specialists and 403rd Wing Reserve Citizen Airmen visited four Caribbean locations April 16-20, 2024, to discuss hurricane preparedness, resilience and how people can become weather ready. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Marnee A.C. Losurdo) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

The 403rd Wing’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron is teaming up with NOAA's National Hurricane Center for the Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour April 16-20, 2024. The event provides the public the opportunity to learn about the aerial weather reconnaissance mission and the importance of being prepared for the upcoming hurricane season. The tour stops are Nassau, Bahamas, Barbados, St. Lucia, and Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. (NOAA graphic) Share

HENRY E. ROHLSEN AIRPORT, St. Croix, VI

Known as the "Roll Up," 403rd Wing reservists, who are based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, load cargo onto a WC-130J Super Hercules aircraft at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Dec. 7, 2023. Aircrew, aerial porters, and maintenance personnel spent Dec. 4-10, 2023, packing up aircraft parts, tools, and communications and test equipment that was positioned at the airport in May to facilitate a quick response when the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, better known as the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters, is tasked with a storm mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Mark Withee) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

The U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron released an Airborne Expendable BathyThermographs into the Gulf of Mexico Aug. 2, 2023. An AXBT is expendable instrument that measures the profile of temperature in the water column. The 53rd WRS has been working with the U.S. Naval Academy and Woods Hole Oceanography Institute as part of the Training and Research in Oceanic and Atmospheric Processes in Tropical Cyclones, or TROPIC program to study the ocean and how it reacts with tropical weather systems. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Mark Withee) Share

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.

The U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron released an Air Launched Autonomous Micro Observer (ALAMO) profiling ocean float into the Gulf of Mexico Aug. 2, 2023. The floats measure upper ocean temperature and salinity. The 53rd WRS has been working with the U.S. Naval Academy and Woods Hole Oceanography Institute as part of the Training and Research in Oceanic and Atmospheric Processes in Tropical Cyclones, or TROPIC program to study the ocean and how it reacts with tropical weather systems. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Mark Withee) Share