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Oceanography Commander Reaffirms Commitment to Meteorology

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS080130-01
Release Date: 1/30/2008 12:15:00 PM

By George Lammons, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Public Affairs

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. (NNS) -- Commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (NMOC), told the members of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) that NMOC remains committed to meteorology, improving Navy weather forecasting with advancing technology and partnerships.

Rear Adm. (Sel.) David Titley made his remarks last week as part of a command overview at the annual meeting of AMS in New Orleans, La. During the past three years, NMOC, based at Stennis Space Center, Miss., has restructured the weather forecasting part of its organization in response to Navy priorities in order to direct more resources to oceanography.

Earlier this month, the command announced another change – contract weather observers in place of military weather observers, which will be phased this year. Titley, however, reaffirmed his support for meteorology.

"We are absolutely committed to meteorology," he said. "We're here for the long haul. I don't see a day in which (weather) forecasters will go away."

Titley said the keys to continued gains in Navy weather forecasting effectiveness and efficiency are technology, training and partnerships.

The command will conduct formal in-house training for enlisted Sailors who have not attended forecasting school. Titley called it "moving up the value chain" where they can better use their talents, skill sets, and training to drive decision making at the operational and tactical levels.

Traditionally military weather observers have been limited to on-the-job training prior to forecasting school. Their primary role has been to collect weather observations for use in forecasts and model runs. Automated weather observing systems that have replaced most of the functions that Sailors once performed as observers.

The Navy oceanography community, which includes meteorology and oceanography, sees weather and oceanography as different parts of the same system. Navy oceanography now sees and has begun operational probability forecasts, which allows commanders to assess their own risks. Advances in models and computing power have made this possible.

And partners are important to the whole process.

"We can't do it without partners," Titley said.

The command routinely works with other federal agencies, especially the National Weather Service, Air Force Weather and Naval Research Laboratories in Monterey, Calif., and Stennis Space Center.

The command has a joint forecasting center on Sembach Air Force Base in Germany and has long partnered with the Air Force in the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii. In addition, the command is working on advances in weather models and ensemble forecasting with its partners.

"This is a very exciting time to be in the meteorology field," Titley said.

For more news from Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/cnmoc/.