The 23rd Special Operations Weather Squadron (23rd SOWS) is a weather squadron of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Special Operations Command, based at

Hurlburt Field Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force S ...

with the 1st Special Operations Group (1st SOG) of the

1st Special Operations Wing The 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW) at Hurlburt Field, Florida is one of three United States Air Force active duty Special Operations wings and falls under the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The 1st Special Operations Wing ...

. It was originally constituted and activated as the 23rd Weather Squadron (Regional Control Headquarters) in late 1943 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and spent most of its service at

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

until disbanding in early September 1944. The 23rd Weather Squadron was reactivated at Hurlburt Field in 2009 as part of the

Air Force Special Operations Command Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida, is the special operations component of the United States Air Force. An Air Force major command (MAJCOM), AFSOC is also the U.S. Air Force component command ...

's Twenty-Third Air Force and in 2013 transferred to the 1st SOG, gaining its current title.

History

World War II

The squadron was first constituted as the 23rd Weather Squadron (Regional Control Headquarters) on 28 October 1943. It was activated on 1 November, part of the Army Air Forces Weather Service at

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Diran Arakelian. The 23rd relocated to

, on 8 November, remaining there until its disbandment on 7 September 1944. Its personnel joined its replacement, the 72nd Army Air Forces Base Unit (23rd Weather Region).

Special Operations unit

The squadron was reconstituted and redesignated as the 23rd Weather Squadron on 3 June 2009, and activated a month later with the Twenty-Third Air Force at

. The 23rd was created to address the increasing Special Forces demands for weather forecasting. Between 27 July and 9 August 2011 the squadron provided forecasting support for a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

conventional battalion-sized unit delivering humanitarian aid against insurgent resistance to isolated areas of Kunar and

Nuristan Province Nuristan, also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan (Pashto: ; Katë: ), is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven districts and is Afghanistan's least populous province, with a ...

s during the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

. It was attached to the 1st Special Operations Group of the

on 31 July 2012, and the attachment became permanent on 28 March 2013, when the squadron became the 23rd Special Operations Weather Squadron. It is responsible for providing

weather forecasting Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather info ...

for

special operations forces Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

in the planning and execution phases of operations. Detachment 1, 23rd SOWS at

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Div ...

supports the

160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), abbreviated as 160th SOAR(A), is a special forces, special operations force of the United States Army that provides helicopter aviation support for special operations forces. Its missio ...

. On 29 August 2017, the weather flight of the 1st Special Operations Support Squadron was transferred to the 23rd SOWS.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 23rd Weather Squadron (Regional Control Headquarters) on 28 October 1943 : Activated on 1 November 1943 : Disbanded on 7 September 1944 * Reconstituted and redesignated 23rd Weather Squadron on 3 June 2009 : Activated on 3 July 2009 : Redesignated 23rd Special Operations Weather Squadron on 28 March 2013

Assignments

* Army Air Forces Weather Service, 1 November 1943 – 7 September 1944 * Twenty-Third Air Force (Air Forces Special Operations Forces), 3 July 2009 (attached to 1st Special Operations Group, 31 July 2012) * 1st Special Operations Group, 28 March 2013–present

Stations

, 1 November 1943 *

, 8 November 1943 – 7 September 1944 *

, 3 July 2009–present

Awards

References

{{USAF Special Operations Command Weather squadrons of the United States Air Force Special operations squadrons of the United States Air Force