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Note: A mission every day: Former Air Weather Reconnaissance airmen gather to relive old-time storm tracking.
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COPYRIGHT 2008 Northwest Florida Daily News
Byline: Mona Moore
Oct. 23--OKALOOSA ISLAND -- Fort Walton Beach resident Ralph Ruyle and Bernard Barris sat at the Ramada Plaza Beach Resort's Oasis Lounge discussing meteorologists' hurricane tracking skills the way other guys talk about the Super Bowl. They remember which storm trackers were accurate and revel at the speed and precision of the meteorology field. They even remember the times they second-guessed forecasts.
The lounge was full of similar conversations at a reunion of members of the Air Force's Air Weather Reconnaissance Association. The Hurricane Hunters waxed nostalgic about the days when the Air Force had seven air weather reconnaissance squadrons worldwide. "We tell war stories, share camaraderie and toast those who have gone," said Barris, a retired lieutenant colonel. "There's thousands and thousands and thousands of folks that have flown weather reconnaissance," said Barris. "I would go almost anywhere with them." His buddies felt the same way. At an Air Weather Reconnaissance Association convention in 1989, the group of former Hurricane Hunters decided to get together. Ruyle hosted the first convention in Fort Walton Beach and by 1992 the association was incorporated. "We try to keep the history alive for people. We want them to be interested in what we did, why we did it and how we did it damn well," said Barris, the organization's historian. Today, the group has about 700 members. Among them are war heroes like Gene Wallace. The former Air Force pilot spent 10 months behind enemy lines after his plane was shot down during World War II. "He had the guts to survive. He didn't have anything out there. He didn't have tools or clothing. He was alone in the jungle," said his daughter, Barbara Jenson. "I admire him so much for having that kind of stamina, for eating worms and snakes and whatever he could to survive." "I learned that life can be fickle. Things don't turn out the way you planned," said Wallace, a retired colonel. Two crew members who trusted villagers were led them to a Japanese base. Wallace said the men were executed. Even after finishing a 30-year career that included tours in Vietnam, the experience made it hard for him to trust people.
Now that he's retired from a 20-year career as a sixth grade teacher, Wallace comes to every reunion. "These are my buddies," said Wallace, 89. "They're all good buddies." With members like Wallace, the association is rich with history. Squadrons flew into typhoons, hurricanes --and nuclear blasts. Until the 1970s, the trackers had the top-secret mission to monitor nuclear activity. "The French tested one in 1973 or 4 that, for some reason, was extremely dirty. They still deny it," said Barris. After nuclear activity was detected, the Hurricane Hunters would fly into the area and collect air samples on sheets of paper attached to the plane. Meteorologists would use the samples to pinpoint the point of origin. "There was no computer model. There were really smart people with data," Barris said. "It turned out, their analysis was really, really, really good. "One thing I'm really proud of is we did our mission every day," he added. "Even if there was no testing, we never flew a training mission. We were doing our war missions every day of the year and it's really satisfying." The mission changed after satellites replaced many of the meteorologists' functions. Barris, a former navigator, says GPS systems replaced his job. "That little black box is better than I ever was. But it will not get a cup of coffee," he said with a smile. "Satellites can't tell you what the winds are," said Ruyle, a retired lieutenant colonel. "Almost everything has gone away. But one squad is still flying planes."
The Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron is still in operation. The squadron is part of the 403rd Wing based at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss.
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Copyright (c) 2008, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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