The Mobile Meteorological Unit (MMU) is a Sponsored Reserve Unit of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

that provides meteorological and environmental support to deployed elements of the UK’s joint forces, in order to enhance the effectiveness of national or combined contingency operations. Principally but not exclusively aviation at target, base and the route in between.

History

The unit was established in 1962 to support military exercises. It saw action in 1982 during the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

when it set up a weather forecasting station on

Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...

in the South Atlantic. It later relocated to RAF Stanley in the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

and remained there until 1985, when civilian forecasters took over at RAF Mount Pleasant. During the late 1990s it became apparent that the capacity of the MMU was becoming over-stretched as demands for the unit's services increased. To address the issue a major recruitment campaign was implemented over a five-year period and in August 2000 the MMU became the first ever Sponsored Reserve Unit in the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

. The move was part of a policy of making greater use of skills in the civilian sector, whereby personnel provide specialist support to the military on operations, as a continuation of their regular peacetime work. In 2005, the MMU moved from RAF Benson in Oxfordshire to RAF Scampton in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

. A Report by the Defence Select Committee in July 2006 recommended that the "importance of the Mobile Met Unit to the United Kingdom's Armed Forces should not be understated" and that "its role and work be more fully reported in the Met Office's Annual Report and Accounts". The unit's motto of ''Tomorrow's weather today'', is taken from the former No. 520 Squadron, which was a meteorological flight in Gibraltar during the

Second World War 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 ...

Role

The Mobile Meteorological Unit is an Air Combat Service Support Unit (ACSSU) and comprises

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

s and engineers who normally work for the civilian Met Office but when required can be actively deployed as part of the military in times of war, crisis, peace-keeping operations and exercises in the UK or overseas. Located at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, the MMU HQ is staffed by 13 full-time personnel, with the other 55 staff based at various Met Offices across the UK and Europe. These part-time members of the MMU are Met Office personnel with jobs as forecasters, observers and engineers, and deploy as RAF Reserve personnel on operations and exercises whenever tasked. When deployed, the MMU can quickly establish a 'temporary Met Office', using portable weather displays mirroring those used by forecasters 'back at home'. The unit has previously deployed to 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 ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Personnel are also expected to deploy on exercises throughout the year; in 2006, 24 exercises were supported, a typical year for the MMU.House of Commons Select Committee Q286
/ref> NATO Met Information System The MMU contributes to the safety and effectiveness of air and aviation operations in deployed theatres, particularly in areas experiencing extreme environmental conditions. For this reason, the small but vital air combat support role filled by the MMU will continue to underpin the expeditionary capability of the UK’s air and aviation components.

References

External links

Met Office – Supporting operations and exercises
{{The Met Office Royal Air Force units Met Office