Interns fly with Hurricane Hunters

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Summer internships at 10,000 feet in an Air Force Reserve WC-130J Hercules, and into Hurricane Florence, aren’t exactly the norm for most people. But that’s exactly what midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy, as part of a summer-time Training and Research in Oceanic and Atmospheric Processes in Tropical Cyclones (TROPIC) program, did with the “Hurricane Hunters” from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron based at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. For the oceanography department at USNA in Annapolis, Md., this has been a part of summer research programs since 2011. The mission was based from the Air Dominance Center in Savannah. TROPIC teams up with the 53rd WRS and midshipmen accompany the Hurricane Hunters into all manner of tropical disturbances in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, said Navy Captain (Dr.) Beth Sanabia, an oceanography professor at USNA. Their purpose is to research ocean conditions beneath the same storms in which the 53rd collects atmospheric data. The students are expected to use the data as a basis for a large research paper at the end of the year. "We have a great relationship with the 53rd," said Sanabia, who first flew with the squadron in 2008 while working on her PhD. "The crews are flexible working with the midshipmen, so we are just really grateful to be a part of this." (Source: 403rd Wing 09/17/18)