**Meet a member of the WFO Caribou Staff!**

By: Sonia Mark Flechtner as told by Richard Norton

Featuring:

**Richard Norton**, Hydro-Meteorological Technician/Associate Forecaster

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Rich has been with the Caribou office since May of 1998. He was one of
the first to arrive at our expanding office, bringing with him an
extensive career working in weather from all around the world. He began
his tenure here as a Hydro-Meteorological Technician and has since
become an Associate Forecaster.

Rich hails from the Midwest, living in states such as Illinois,
Missouri, and Iowa. He became fascinated with thunderstorms and
particularly tornadoes while growing up in the infamous "Tornado Alley".
A few months before his eighteenth birthday, he enlisted in the Navy,
and coincidentally or rather, fortuitously, the Navy placed him in the
Meteorology field.

He attended *Aerographer\'s Mate*, (or "A" School as they affectingly
call it) a Naval School in Lakehurst, New Jersey. This is where he
learned how to take weather observations, translate codes, and plot
weather maps. This naval air station has a rich history, as it is the
site of the Hindenburg disaster.

Upon graduating, Rich transferred to *The Fleet Weather Center* on Guam.
For three years on Guam, he worked the operations desk and learned how
to analyze charts and maps. From this analysis he learned to draw
forecast charts or *prognostic* charts, as we refer to them. Toward the
end of his assignment he moved into the computer department, and worked
as a computer operator for the remainder of the time. His keen interest
in analysis continued, and he continued to work on charts and maps
between computer runs for his own enjoyment.

From Guam he was transferred to *The Naval Oceanographic Command* in Bay
St. Louis, Mississippi. He spent 2 years here working in the training
program department. This was primarily an administrative job, but they
were also responsible for gathering basic equipment needed to build a
weather office for training purposes. This is where he began forecasting
and briefing on a regular basis and twice a week filled in as a duty
forecaster.

From Mississippi he was transferred to a rather exotic location, the
island of Crete in Greece, where the *Naval Oceanography Environmental*
detachment is located. On Crete he became an Assistant Forecaster and
spent much of his time studying and preparing for Forecaster School.
Working as a forecaster\'s assistant allowed Rich to write and publish
the morning forecast package. (This was great preparation for
forecasting school!) And he also had the opportunity to write a DD175-1,
which is an aviation forecast for an individual flight.

Post his tour on Crete; he attended Forecaster\'s school at Chanute Air
Force Base, Illinois. For almost 9 months on Chanute he learned
forecasting techniques and tactical oceanography. After Chanute he
transferred to Adak, Alaska. On Adak he quickly qualified as a Forecast
Duty Officer (FDO), which required him to be responsible for aviation,
marine, oceanographic, and station forecasts. After 18 months he was
transferred back to Illinois, specifically to Glenview Naval Air
Station, where he also worked as an FDO before transferring back to
Crete a year later.

For close to 4 years he worked as a FDO on Crete. While abroad he was
fortunate to be able to take college courses with the University of
Maryland through distance learning. One of Rich's last foreign transfers
was to Rota, Spain where he became a member of one of the Mobile
Environmental Teams. For 4 years Rich traveled all across the
Mediterranean, Red, and Arabian Seas, as well as the Persian Gulf. Most
of these assignments were aboard various navy ships, while only a few
were "shore based". Before being transferred back to the States, he was
sent back to Crete to support his old office during a medical
evacuation. After his assignment in Spain he transferred to the *Naval
Oceanographic and Meteorology Center* in Norfolk, Virginia.

Rich spent 3 1/2 years assigned to the center. He spent the majority of
his time working as an aviation FDO, but also earned the opportunity to
work as a marine FDO where he forecasted for the entire Atlantic Ocean
including all of the various seas northeast of Iceland, and the
Caribbean Sea. His very last assignment lasted nearly 2 years, and was
spent aboard the *U.S.S. Constellation*. The assignment aboard the
Constellation began with 5 months in the Persian Gulf supporting Desert
Storm. It finished with week long stops in Fremantle and Sidney,
Australia and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii before returning to San Diego.

After his tour aboard *the Constellation*, Rich retired from the Navy in
1996 and at that time the National Weather Service was not hiring for
what he was qualified for. In searching for a job in private weather
sector, (while waiting for a opening with the NWS to open) he
interviewed with several private companies. He was hired by *Murray and
Trettle* in Chicago, Illinois and worked for them 1 year before being
offered a position at the expanding office in here in Caribou, Maine! He
arrived here in Caribou in May of 1998. Unfortunately, because he did
not have a degree in meteorology, he was technically ineligible to
become a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. In the fall of
2000, he inspired all of us here by going back to school to take courses
such as algebra, physics, and differential equations. (At the University
of Maine in Presque Isle, UMPI) He has taken at least 1 class per
semester (while working full time), and if all goes well, will be
finished with all of the requirements to become a meteorologist by the
summer of 2005!