Shared weather radar ensures mission success

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Shane Dunaway
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFNS) --  Two squadrons here work together to secure weather data for the 36th Wing flying mission.

The 36th Communications Squadron's ground radar systems flight maintains an off-base Next Generation Weather Radar valued at more than $3 million. The radar is used primarily by the 36th Operations Support Squadron, but also is used by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Weather Service.

The four-person crew monitors the radar remotely to ensure functionality and makes on-site visits twice a week to run quality assurance checks on the equipment.

"If there's an issue with a part on the radar, the computer controlling the system will issue us a warning," said Tech. Sgt. Christopher Johnson, the 36th CS NCO in charge of ground radar systems. "If a part breaks or the radar goes down, we'll report to the site as a two-person team and work on the issue until it is resolved."

The repair process can take up to several hours to complete. The flight keeps a stockpile of additional parts on hand to ensure they are prepared to fix any problem at any time.

"If our single radar goes down, we are in the dark." said Capt. Stephen Moorehead, the 36th OSS weather flight commander. "The only thing we have to back that up is satellite data, but it is not as timely as radar data or not as detailed."

The teamwork between the two units doesn't stop there. Captain Moorehead praised the 36th CS Airmen for their level of flexibility in supporting the theater security package and continuous bomber presence.

"They definitely work hard," Captain Moorehead said. "One thing they're fantastic about is they'll flex their schedule to meet the operations missions. Even when they're conducting regular maintenance on (the radar) and need to take the radar (offline), they always coordinate it with us so we can de-conflict the downtime with the flying schedule. A lot of times, that has them coming in at some crazy hours of the night. They're so flexible and so willing to work around the high operations tempo of Andersen and make a real big difference in what we do."