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  • First female fighter pilot visits Wing of Choice

    Maj. Gen. Jeannie M. Levitt, director of operations and communications for the Air and Education Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, learns about the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunters" from Capt. Peyton Eustis (center), pilot for the 53rd WRS, and Master

  • 403rd Wing members, aircraft return from deployment

    Reserve Citizen Airmen and C-130J aircraft assigned to the Air Force Reserve’s 403rd Wing here returned after a deployment in Southwest Asia where they supported Operations Freedom Sentinel and Inherent Resolve.The deployment package consisted of aircrew and aircraft from the 815th Airlift Squadron

  • Hurricane Hunters hunt first winter storm of the season

    Hurricane season might be over, but that does not mean the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron “Hurricane Hunters” are through providing pertinent weather reconnaissance services to those potentially impacted by severe weather.   As of Nov. 1, the winter storm season began, and the 53rd took off

  • Hurricane Hunters: navigators guide through storms

    The 403rd Wing’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron based out of Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, is the only Department of Defense organization that flies weather reconnaissance. In this specialized unit of Reserve Citizen Airmen, a crew is made up of a minimum of five members consisting of a

  • CARCAH key to coordination, storm support

    Coordination—it is the key to any successful organization or event; and, when that event happens to be a hurricane, which requires aerial reconnaissance to gather life-saving weather data for forecasts—it’s imperative.In order for the Hurricane Hunters, whether that’s the Air Force Reserve’s 53rd

  • Hurricane Hunter sets unit record for eyewall penetrations

    In the Air Force, the number 341 typically elicits an unpleasant memory. Like that time someone in your group of three marching at basic military training forgot to put their cover on, so you all were vehemently reprimanded by a military training instructor and had your 341 pulled.Or that time you

  • Hurricane Hunters fly first Pacific hurricane of the year

    The Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircrews flew five weather reconnaissance missions into Hurricane Douglas, the first hurricane in the Pacific, July 24-27, 2020, collecting data to assist Central Pacific Hurricane Center forecasters.The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, assigned to the

  • Joint Forces: Reserve, Guard train for care in the air

    From broken bones, burns to head trauma, loss of limbs and more; Aeromedical Evacuation teams see more than their fair share of battle injuries. Reserve Citizen Airmen from the 36th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and Mississippi Air National Guardsmen from the 183rd AES collaborated for a three-day

  • Hurricane Hunters: Reserve Citizen Airmen team flies storm missions

    The 403rd Wing’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron based out of Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, is the only Department of Defense organization that flies weather reconnaissance.This specialized unit of Reserve Citizen Airmen is at a minimum made up of a five-person crew consisting of a

  • Hurricane Hunters conduct deployment for training

    The Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron deployed to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, June 15 to 19 to fly training missions over the Caribbean in preparation for the 2020 hurricane season. The Hurricane Hunters are Reserve Citizen Airmen of the 403rd Wing based at Keesler Air