Kindergarten Interviews Air Force Hurricane Hunter

Lieutenant Garrett Black, a meteorologist with the US Air Force’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (aka the Hurricane Hunters) visited the Indian Creek Kindergarten class via Skype from Biloxi, Mississippi, today, to answer the children's questions about weather!

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, a component of the 403rd Wing located at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., is a one-of-a-kind organization. It is the only operational unit in the world flying weather reconnaissance on a routine basis. The Hurricane Hunters provide surveillance of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the central Pacific Ocean for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The unit also flies winter storm missions off both coasts of the United States. To perform their mission, the Hurricane Hunters have 10 WC-130J aircraft, equipped with palletized meteorological data-gathering instruments.

As the ICS Kindergarteners are in the midst of their weather unit, the students had many engaging (and entertaining) questions for Lt. Black. Questions ranged from "Where do the planes park?" (Right outside from where he was calling from.) to "Is it loud in the plane?" (Yes) to "How do the weather tools that drop out of the plane work?" (They float down to the water and send information back like the temperature then disintegrate into the ocean.) Lt. Black shared that he enjoys his job because he likes being able to use science and math to help people stay safe in storms, and that his favorite part of his job is talking to children like the ICS Class of 2032.