Meet the Grey Berets: These warrior weather ops are part of the US military’s elite
Among the millions who serve in the armed forces are these specially-trained, top warriors who provide critical weather information for military operations
The Grey Berets are meteorologists just as comfortable jumping from the sky, as they are forecasting what weather will be forming in it.
Among the millions of veterans who serve in the United States armed forces is a group of specially trained meteorologists, aerographers and oceanographers who provide critical weather information for military operations.
The Grey Berets, formerly called the Special Operations Weather Teams (SOWTs), are Air Force meteorologists with unique reconnaissance training to operate in hostile or denied territory, according to the Air Force.
The U.S. team of trained service members is tasked with gathering, analyzing and forecasting operational impacts, according to the Air Force Times. Information collected includes weather, ocean, river and terrain data.
Before the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the SOWTs expanded their responsibilities and skillset to bolster the Air Force Special Tactics teams. The SOWTs' new role as special reconnaissance (SR) meant a shift from specialized weather analysis to focus on more short-term, small-scale environmental reconnaissance and surveillance “using leading-edge technology," Air Force Special Operations Command officials said.
The highly trained Grey Berets are deployed into restricted environments by air, land and sea to conduct weather operations.
Their change in scope was due to “the evolution of Air Force Special Tactics on today’s battlefield,” said Chief Master Sgt. Jeff Guilmain, 24th Special Operations Wing command chief, in a statement.
With the new roles came more specialized training, including additional tactical skills, such as advanced parachuting, marine maneuvers, long-range sniper drills, and a combat diver course. After a year and a half of rigorous training, the special team consists of some of the most highly trained personnel in the U.S. military, earning them the right to wear the gray beret.
Weather information is indispensable when it comes to carrying out U.S. military actions around the world. The D-Day invasion of Normandy in 1944 is one striking example.
“We’re sensors, human sensors, and that’s the magic of the SOWTs,” Jonathan Sawtelle, a former senior forecaster who's now an active duty Air Force officer, told NBC News.
U.S. Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit try to take shelter from a sand storm at forward operating base Dwyer in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan on May 7, 2008. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder, File)
While the National Weather Service (NWS) was founded in 1870 by President Ulysses S. Grant under a signed, joint congressional order through the Department of War, weather forecasting as we know it was not advanced enough at the time beyond basic meteorological observation and analysis.
“The U.S. Army Weather Service originated in 1917 to provide the American Expeditionary Forces with all the meteorological information needed; and to undertake special investigations in military meteorology and related problems,” according to the U.S. Air Force.
“They first took part in World War I combat operations in France in 1918,” the Air Force added.
"During World War II, specially trained weather observers, sometimes referred to as 'guerrilla weathermen,' infiltrated behind enemy lines to provide weather intelligence in support of air strikes, airlifts and airdrops," the Air Force reported.
In 1947, the service was transferred to the new Air Force and continued providing meteorological services to the Army.
Special warfare and commando weather analysts also provided observations and networks in Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War.
In every conflict since Vietnam, special operations weather personnel "were with initial entry forces leading the way, undertaking the most dangerous missions behind enemy lines, conducting austere weather operations, and taking observations critical to the success of follow-on forces,” according to the Air Force.
In 2008, some changes were implemented to further recognize their role. The Air Force established the Air Force Specialty Code for Special Operations Weather, which created the first official class of commando weather analysts and provided them with the needed technical, physical and tactical training from day one, according to the Air Force.
With the change to full special reconnaissance in 2019, the first wave of graduates under the new training earned their gray berets in June 2021 at Pope Army Airfield in North Carolina.
Meteorologists in the Air Force also provide forecasts for the Army, as well as for their own service members. The Navy also has a system of meteorologists and weather analysts to provide planning information for operations. Navy forecasters are tasked with providing weather information to the necessary captains and commanders of their ships to help them assess and make operation and risk management decisions.
“Teams that are directly serving a carrier or amphibious ship are stationed on the vessel as a strike-group oceanography team, who are able to provide forecasts and conditions on site,” the report states.
Though the work to become a military meteorologist is demanding and time intensive, the information they provide is critical and, in many cases, life-saving.
Lt. Gen. Brad Webb, commander of Air Force Special Operations, said, “Air Commandos need to operate effectively across the spectrum of conflict, from the low end to the high end and everywhere in between.”
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