Forecasting for the Fleet: Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Monitors Weather, Ocean and Atmospheric Conditions to Keep the Navy in the Fight
Posted on April 16, 2021 by Nick Adde, Special Correspondent
Everyone wants accurate weather predictions, but for the military, and the Navy in particular, they can be crucial — typhoons can sink ships and bad weather can force operational delays.
Providing timely and accurate weather predictions and information about the maritime environment falls to the roughly 2,500 military members and civilians who work for the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command.
“Naval oceanography applies meteorological, oceanographic and astrometric decision-science expertise across every aspect of warfare,” said Rear Adm. John A. Okon, who heads the Stennis Space Flight Center, Mississippi-based command. “No other organization across our government, [including] the Department of Defense, applies this knowledge under, on or above the sea in a manner with assured information that can be protected and relied upon in the high-end fight.”
The Navy’s antisubmarine, mine, electromagnetic and special warfare communities all depend upon information the Naval Oceanography Operations Command — which reports to Okon — gathers and processes. Six Pathfinder-class (T-AGS) survey ships and a fleet of unmanned underwater vehicles operate while forward deployed, constantly compiling data.
https://seapowermagazine.org/forecasting-for-the-fleet-naval-meteorology-and-oceanography-command-monitors-weather-ocean-and-atmospheric-conditions-to-keep-the-navy-in-the-fight/
