The 21st Operational Weather Squadron provides weather support for all US Air Force and Army in the European and Africa Commands and is based at Kapaun Air Station,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Mission

The 21st Operational Weather Squadron provides highly accurate, timely and relevant environmental situational awareness to

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, and Army Commanders operating in

US European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven Unified Combatant Command, unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territori ...

in partnership with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. The 21st OWS is responsible for producing and disseminating mission planning and execution weather analyses, terminal aerodrome forecasts, and briefings for Air Force,

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

SHAPE A shape is a graphics, graphical representation of an object's form or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface. It is distinct from other object properties, such as color, Surface texture, texture, or material ...

, EUCOM, AFRICOM, USAFE,

USAREUR United States Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) is an Army Service Component Command (ASCC) /Theater Army responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICO ...

, SOCEUR, and NAVEUR forces operating at 491 DoD installations/sites encompassing 92 countries and 23M square miles within the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Vision

Reliable, resilient, and forward-thinking joint warriors enabling military operations while converging with information warfare capabilities.

Priorities

Reliable We will actively generate predictive weather and environmental analyses in support of the air, land, and maritime component commander in the planning and employment of Information Warfare capabilities. Resilient We will foster a healthy and inclusive culture which starts with our front-line leaders setting the example and understanding the challenges the Airmen on their team face. Forward-thinking We will seek opportunities to capitalize on our Airmen while modernizing and evolving our processes and training program to maintain our advantage.

Personnel and resources

21st OWS watches the skies 160928-F-MD915-019

21st Operational Weather Squadron's manning consists of active duty, civilian and contract personnel and is located on Kapaun Air Station,

, as an

Air Combat Command The Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the prim ...

tenant unit of

Ramstein Air Base Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force installation located in Rhineland-Palatinate, southwestern Germany. It serves as the headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and NATO Alli ...

( USAFE).

Lineage

Activations and inactivations of the 21st Operational Weather Squadron: *1 Dec 1997: Activated as a unit *17 Feb 1999: Redesignated USAFE Operational Weather Squadron

Duty Assignments

List of duty assignments and parent units from 1997 to present. *

Sembach Kaserne Sembach Kaserne () is a United States Army post in Donnersbergkreis, Germany, near Kaiserslautern. It is approximately east of Ramstein Air Base. From 1995 to 2012 the installation was a United States Air Force installation known as Sembach Air ...

, Headquarters USAFE (1 December 1997 – 23 April 2012) * Kapaun Air Station,

(23 April 2012 – Present) 21OWS

Emblem

The unit insignia was approved on 20 August 1998.

Meaning

Blue and yellow are the

colors. Blue alludes to the sky, the primary theater of Air Force operations. The knight represents the unit's readiness and its dedication to support the warfighter and its role as a "keeper of peace". He leaps over a weather vane symbolizing a commander's ability to overcome adverse weather conditions due to accurate weather information provided by the squadron. The horse signifies the unit's key mission of carrying tailored intelligence information to operational customers and the ability to complete the Air Force mission. The lance carried by the knight denotes the squadron as the "tip" of weather forecasting services reaching into the theater to make a difference; the shield connotes the ability to safeguard those who may be in harm's way. The wind anemometer within the shield is a standard trademark for Air Force weather personnel and a key tool for the craft. The developing thunderstorm in the background symbolizes the weather hazards that may impede combat operations.

Awards

The unit has received the following awards: *

Fawbush-Miller Award The Fawbush-Miller Award is a US Air Force award given for the most ''Outstanding Operational Weather Squadron'' for the entire Air Force. It is named after Robert C. Miller and E J. Fawbush, who pioneered forecasting tornadoes. See also * List of ...

(1999, 2004) *USAF Operational Weather Squadron of the Year (2005, 2008) * 1 Weather Group, Operational Weather Squadron of the Year (2024)

Commanders

*Lt. Col. Ralph Stoffler, 1997–1999 *Lt. Col. John Murphy, 1999–2001 *Lt. Col. Carolyn Vadnais, 2001–2003 *Lt. Col. Tim Hutchison, 2003–2005 *Lt. Col. John Shepley, 2005–2007 *Lt. Col. Brian Pukall, 2007–2009 *Lt. Col. David Andrus, 2009–2011 *Lt. Col. Eugene Wall, 2011-2013 *Lt. Col. Gerald Sullivan Jr., 2013-2015 *Lt. Col. Cedrick Stubblefield, 2015–2017 *Lt. Col. Eric Muller, 2017-2019 *Lt. Col. Jason Scalzitti, 2019–2021 *Lt. Col. Allen Little, 2021-2023 *Lt. Col. Alycia Hackenburg, 2023-2025 *Maj. David DeMeuse, 2025-Present

References

External links

USAFE Information

USAFE FactsheetUSAFE article
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