53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known by its nickname, Hurricane Hunters, is a flying unit of the United States Air Force, and "the only Department of Defense organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes." Aligned under the 403rd Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, with ten aircraft, it flies into tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Central Pacific Ocean for the specific purpose of directly measuring weather data in and around those storms. The 53rd WRS currently operates the Lockheed WC-130J aircraft as its weather data collection platform.
WC-130J of the 53rd WRS
A WC-130J Hercules aircraft weather loadmaster of the 53rd WRS performs pre-engine start-up inspection in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, on 16 September 2010. The SFMR antenna housing is visible under the starboard wing outboard of the number four engine.
53rd WRS Boeing WB-29A weathership landing at its base at RAF Burtonwood in 1954
53rd WRS Boeing WB-50D weathership landing at RAF Burtonwood in 1956. The observation and sampling station is on top of the rear fuselage
The 403rd Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command. It is located at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi and employs a military manning authorization of more than 1,400 reservists, including some 250 full-time air reserve technicians. The 403rd Wing is a subordinate unit of the 22nd Air Force at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
403rd Wing C-130 Hercules over coastal Georgia
Wing C-119 in 1952
403rd WG Lockheed Martin WC-130J Hercules 98-5307
