Any Hurricane Hunter will agree that their job entails long hours. In fact, a typical hurricane mission lasts 10-12 hours and involves five end-to-end trips into the eye of the storm in the pursuit of gathering data needed to more accurately predict its path. Senior Airman Thomas Barnaby, a dropsonde operator with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron's Hurricane Hunters, spends a few minutes of down-time on the long ride to Hurricane Irene gazing from the back window of the aircraft. He also carries some of his favorite reads along with him. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Justin Pearce)