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The Air Force has a tremendous variety of career fields available to officers —each with unique challenges and rewards. If you know exactly what you're looking for, use the keyword search for a list of job titles and descriptions. Or, if you're interested in seeing what the Air Force has to offer, browse the different career fields in the pull-down menu.
Weather Officer
Duties and Responsibilities
The Weather crew performs global analysis and forecast duties at weather and space centrals. They analyze and evaluate meteorological data and prepares mission forecasts, integrating weather analyses and reports with radar and satellite imagery interpretations. The Weather crew is responsible for briefing aircrews and staff personnel on current and forecast weather, and instructing personnel on the application of weather to operations, and the interpretation and use of meteorological products.
The Weather crew conducts and directs meteorological, astrophysical and geophysical studies, provides meteorological consultation for research activities, and directs gathering and preparing of data for specialized weather support activities. The Weather crew also writes directives on operational techniques and procedures to observe, analyze and forecast atmospheric and space phenomena.
They also interpret and integrate radar imagery and satellite data into forecast products and observation reports. They advise commanders and staffs on the capabilities and limitations of AF weather service while providing commanders with mission and weapon specific, time sensitive, forecast and observation support critical to successful mission accomplishment. The AF meteorologist is the focal point for all weather-related concerns to the Air Force.
Civilian Opportunities
Operational Meteorologist
Duties and Responsibilities
Meteorologists who forecast the weather, known professionally as operational meteorologists, are the largest groups of specialists. They study information on air pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind velocity, and apply physical and mathematical relationships to make short- and long-range weather forecasts. Their data come from weather satellites, weather radar, and remote sensors and observers in many parts of the world. Meteorologists use sophisticated computer models of the world's atmosphere to make long-term, short-term, and local-area forecasts. These forecasts inform not only the general public, but also those who need accurate weather information for both economic and safety reasons, as in the shipping, air transportation, agriculture, fishing, and utilities industries.
Some meteorologists work in research. Physical meteorologists, for example, study the atmosphere's chemical and physical properties; the transmission of light, sound, and radio waves; and the transfer of energy in the atmosphere. They also study factors affecting the formation of clouds, rain, snow, and other weather phenomena, such as severe storms. Synoptic meteorologists develop new tools for weather forecasting using computers and sophisticated mathematical models. Climatologists collect, analyze, and interpret past records of wind, rainfall, sunshine, and temperature in specific areas or regions. Their studies are used to design buildings, plan heating and cooling systems, and aid in effective land use and in agricultural production. Other research meteorologists examine the most effective ways to control or diminish air pollution.
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