Normally, I would say, pick a subject and stick to it so as not to alienate your audience.  In this case, it’s really more of an addition than a change – I want to write about the things I’m passionate about.  When I redesigned this blog, I decided those things were the Air Force, Technology and Volunteer Management.  At that time in my life, I was immersed in all of those things.  Now, I’ve started a new job and I’m spending less time thinking about Technology and way more time thinking about the much blogged about topic of Social Media.

That’s right, I’m going to start adding my ideas about SOCMED to the already mountainous pile of crap content that already exists on the subject.

To be clear:

I am not an expert – not even close.

I think I have some insights into the space purely from the perspective that I work for a company that has embraced this platform as a way to reconnect with it’s diverse and large customer base.  Are my ideas gospel?  Hell no.  They’re just that, my ideas.  Some of them are working for us, and some of them aren’t.  Sometimes I’m just full of shit.

So, here we go, take it for what it’s worth.

The first point I think I need to emphasize here is that the men and women of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron are Reservists.  They come from 36 different states and at least one commutes from overseas to be a part of this group.

They operate 10 WC130-J Model aircraft.  The 403rd Wing is the 3rd largest operator of this aircraft behind two countries – that’s right – they operate this aircraft more than most countries.  The only people who operate it more are England and Italy.  They have more than 40,000 hours in this airframe and are well on their way to 45,000.  In 2008 alone, they flew more than 1000 hours making 162 passes through the eye of a hurricane.  One of the lesser known mission of the Hurricane Hunters is their assistance with winter storms, last year they flew 55 winter storm missions along with their normal hurricane duties.

One thing I can tell you for sure is this plane is fast.  My favorite moment of the day was a quote from Maj Chad Gibson – Chief of Public Affairs for the 403rd: “This plane will fly like a homesick angel.”  He’s not kidding, on takeoff, we didn’t simply float gently into the air – we ripped ourselves from the ground.  We bitch slapped gravity and won.

Once airborne we flew the same pattern they would fly if passing through the eye of a hurricane.  During these maneuvers they dropped small weather data collection devices called “dropsondes”.  Our flight concluded with an aerial tour of New Orleans.

While on board, I had the opportunity to talk to every crew member.  I can tell you that these men and women are dedicated to their mission.  The weather data they collect increases the overall accuracy of the forecasts by 30%.  One of the most amazing statistics from the trip was the cost of activating the warning system to initiate an evacuation – $86 Million Dollars.  As Major Gibson put it “Every time IMG_0148they hit the button, it’s $86 Million dollars.”  It costs about $1,000,000 per mile to evacuate coastline.  If you think about the cost savings alone by putting these airmen in the air, it’s worth it – not to mention the lives they save.

As Hurricane Season is upon us I just want to remind everyone to heed the warnings of forecasters and be prepared.  This trip gave me an opportunity to reflect on my time at Hurricane Katrina and the impact the Hurricane Hunters had in saving lives, even in a disaster of that scale.

I leave you with some photos:

What can you expect from the new and improved NFTF?  A much more topical blog with a focus on three subjects:

• Volunteer Management
• Technology
• The United States Air Force

I’m not necessarily an expert on any of these subjects, but I feel I have some valuable things to add.

Thanks for coming by and: Welcome!

If you’d like to refer back to any of my old posts, you can do so by going here.