The 3rd Combat Weather Squadron (3 CWS) is a unit of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

. It was formed at Barksdale Field (now

Barksdale Air Force Base Barksdale Air Force Base (Barksdale AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in northwest Louisiana, United States, in Bossier Parish. It is contiguous to Bossier City, Louisiana, along the base's western and northwestern edge. Barksdale A ...

), Louisiana, on 24 June 1937, as part of the Signal Corps. The 3rd was one of three original squadrons that eventually transferred from the Signal Corps to the Air Corps. Currently located at West

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquar ...

, the 3rd Combat Weather Squadron is aligned under the 3rd Air Support Operations Group. Weather support to Fort Hood began in 1947 at the newly constructed Killeen AFB. Today, the 3rd Combat Weather Squadron—in addition to providing weather support to the Fort Hood complex—has operating locations at Forts Bliss, Huachuca, Riley, and Sill in Texas, Arizona, Kansas, and Oklahoma, respectively. The 3rd Combat Weather Squadron is currently the largest base- or post-level weather unit in the Air Force. The support provided by the squadron is as diverse as its history and that of the Army customers it supports. The squadron maintains a 24-hour observing and forecasting section at Robert Gray Army Airfield with extended observing hours at

Hood Army Airfield Hood Army Airfield is a military airport located at the U.S. Army's Fort Hood, in Killeen, Texas, U.S. Facilities Hood Army Airfield has a single asphalt runway, identified as 16/34. In the 16 direction, the threshold is displaced by , result ...

. The squadron patch is Walt Disney's Cupid which was sold to the unit for one US dollar during World War II, in efforts to raise troop morale.

Combat Weather Teams

There are five Combat Weather Teams (CWTs) that support the following Army units at Fort Hood: * III Corps. * 1st Cavalry Division. * 1st Cavalry Aviation Brigade. * 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized). * 4th Infantry Aviation Brigade.

Operations in Iraq

On 13 December 2003, 4ID combat weather forecasters produced planning and mission execution forecasts for

Operation Red Dawn Saddam Hussein, the deposed president of Iraq, was captured by the United States military forces in the town of Ad-Dawr, Iraq on 13 December 2003. Codenamed Operation Red Dawn, this military operation was named after the 1984 American film '' R ...

, which led to successful capture of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

References

*This article contains information that originally came from Military Intelligence Bulletin, in the public domain from https://fas.org/irp/agency/army/tradoc/usaic/mipb/1997-4/MSGkooyman.htm {{Air Force Weather nav Weather 0003 Military units and formations established in 1937

Combat Weather Teams

Operations in Iraq

See also

References