Training
Meteorologists for War Service.-The
war, with its major emphasis on aviation, created overnight a demand
for thousands of' professional and subprofessional meteorologists
in the Armed Forces. The Weather Bureau released over 700 men to
the military services.. In addition, a number of meteorologists
were furnished to serve as instructors at the five universities
where Army and Navy personnel were being trained 'in meteorology.
In
meeting the problem of obtaining replacements, and of securing additional
qualified persons for vital war projects, the Bureau was faced with
the fact that trained meteorologists were not available outside
of the Bureau and the commercial airlines. The problem of training
personnel was partially met by the training at field stations of
women and girls; on-station training of experienced subprofessional
employees in map analysis and weather forecasting; and in cooperation
with the Civil Aeronaut Administration, the provision for tuition
and subsistencescholarships for graduate training in meteorology
of persons with private pilots' licenses. In October 1942 the Bureau
was authorized to grant fifty tuition-only scholarships each year
for graduate training in meteorology for the duration of the war.
Women students were recruited for classes beginning in January and
June 1943. In addition, the Bureau provided correspondence courses
in Air Navigation and in surface weather observations. These courses
were taken by several thousand persons. Despite these efforts to
train replacements and secure additional qualified personnel
for vital war projects, the Bureau was desperately in need of qualified
persons to carry on its work..
Shortly
after the beginning of the war the Bureau assisted the War Department
in organizing a school for instructing Arm personnel in the maintenance
and repair of radiosonde ground equipment and other instruments
in regular use at weather stations. Weather Bureau personnel were
detailed to the Army establishment to inaugurate a course of instruction
and to aid in selecting from the military students completing the
first course those members who were to serve as instructors of subsequent
classes. Imperfections in the program were due to the lack of sufficient
time in which to adequately plan
courses of study and to the lack of equipment in sufficient quantity
for proper instruction. The solution of these difficulties is the
maintenance of an adequately trained skeleton force to institute
courses of instruction on short notice and to have available in
sufficient number for demonstration purposes the latest developments
in meteorological equipment.
In
cooperation with the C.A.A., the Weather Bureau in 1941, began the
issue of a special daily weather map to assist meteorological instructors
at Civilian Pilot Training Centers. This special daily weather map
contained a complete synoptic weather analyses of the United States.
In
the beginning a total of 2,000 copies of the special weather map
was printed daily and when the project terminated during June 1944,
the edition reached 6,000 copies a day. At one time, supplies of
the map were being furnished to about 850 pilot training centers.
The Weather Bureau also supplied a considerable number of related
meteorological publications to assist instructors at Pilot Training
Centers. The Civil Aeronautics Administration transferred a total
of $48,954 to the Weather Bureau from 1941 to 1944 to provide for
this service.
As
the Allied invasion of European areas progressed, it became apparent
to military commanders overseas that much tactical value lay in
the possession of advance information concerning the future condition
of battle areas as they may be affected meteorological elements,
particularly in regard to soil tractability, river stages, and forest
fire susceptibility. As the Weather Bureau had the basic knowledge
for forecasting the latter two types of conditions, the Army Air
Forces, early In 1944, arranged to detail a limited number of officers
to the Weather Bureau for training fire-weather and flood forecasting.
Two
special training centers were established and classes in flood forecasting
were conducted at the Weather Bureau Office, Sacramento, while instruction
in fire-weather forecasting was given at Los Angeles. These locations
were selected because of the availability of qualified field personnel
who were regularly assigned to issue forecasts to fire control agencies,
flood protection organizations and the general public. Courses of
instruction were prepared by the Weather Bureau which consisted
of three parts: (1) basic theoretical considerations necessary for
a thorough understanding of the subject matter, (2) development
of fundamental techniques, and (3) actual practice in forecasting
and in use of data and observational equipment.
Four
classes of instructions were given, two in each of the specialized
phase of weather forecasting. The Army Air Forces assigned about
five officers to each class and some of these personnel were used
later on as instructors in training and refresher courses at the
Army base at Chanute Field, I11. The urgency to train Army Air Force
officers in these phases of specialized weather forecasting did
not allow sufficient time to plan and prepare as complete a course
of instruction as would be desired, nor the time allotted for each
course of instruction, approximately 30 days, did-not permit the
officers to become sufficiently familiar with all possible methods
of analyzing basic data which would be especially valuable in battle
areas. In the future, the detailing of officers to the Weather Bureau
for several months' training in specialized phases of weather forecasting
under competent instructors would provide qualified personnel needed
for this work during an emergency.
In
addition, as indicated under the paragraph describing the activities
of the Defense Meteorological Committee, arrangements were made
to increase the number of Bureau employees sent to universities
for special advanced meteorological training to strengthen its expanding
forecast and research programs.
-
Top of Page -
