14th Weather Squadron The 14th Weather Squadron ( 14th WS ) is a Geographically Separate Unit ( GSU ) of the 2nd Weather Group . The squadron is located in the Veach - Baley Federal Complex in Asheville , North Carolina . Its mission is military applied climatology . The 14 WS collects , stores , and characterizes earth - space environmental data to provide tailored and simulated weather information and services to improve the combat effectiveness of U . S . Department of Defense ( DoD ) personnel and weapons systems . It delivers environmental information worldwide to the United States Air Force ( USAF ) , the Army , Unified Combatant Command s , the Intelligence Community , and the Department of Defense . The 14 WS also collaborates with the National Climatic Data Center ( NCDC ) . Mission . The mission of the 14 WS is to provide “ rapidly disseminating customized applied climatological and historical weather information to maximize combat effectiveness of DoD personnel and weapon systems , through expert receipt , quality control , storage , and tailoring of Earth - Space environmental data . ” Organization . The 14 WS consists of more than 70 active - duty officers and enlisted personnel , civilians , and contractors . The majority of the personnel at the 14 WS are meteorologists , weather technicians , and computer programmers that work together to accomplish its mission . The 14 WS is divided into two flights , the Operations Flight and the Systems Flight . History . The Origins of Military Applied Climatology Punched cards , which are pieces of stiff paper that contain digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions , were a technical marvel when they came into prominence in the United States . The cards , developed by Herman Hollerith for use in the 1890 U . S . Census , made the use of historical weather records a practical means for determining the probability of future weather events and patterns . The British used punched cards successfully in about 1920 to extract wind data from ships ’ logs and to produce wind roses for ocean regions . The Dutch Meteorological Institute borrowed some of the British cards in 1922 and began their own weather analyses . Norway , France , and Germany soon followed . Then , in 1927 , the Czech meteorologist , L . W . Pollak , placed small and inexpensive punch machines of his own design in every Czech weather station . As each observation was taken , it was punched on a card that was sent to a central tabulating unit for summary and analysis . Although the equipment for gathering and tabulating weather data has changed since then , the basic idea of the process has not . The United States , where the punched card originated , was late to join the Europeans in collecting and tabulating weather observations . Fortunately , one of the “ make - work ” projects of the mid - 1930s resulted in a sizable punched card climatic database . A 1934 Works Progress Administration ( WPA ) project resulted in an atlas of ocean climates , prepared by punching 2 million observations ( taken from 1880 to 1933 ) onto cards and summarizing the results . Another 3 . 5 million observations were processed manually , a task that took 90 percent of the labor devoted to the entire project . In 1936 , the WPA also funded a project that resulted in the compilation and analysis of millions of surface and upper - air observations taken from 1928 to 1941 . From this project came a number of climatological publications vital to the nation ’ s preparation for World War II . World War II . Although there was strong pressure for neutrality , military visionaries had seen the need to prepare for war even before 1937 when the Air Weather Service ( AWS ) itself was founded . The Army Air Forces Weather Research Center ’ s Climatological Section was born at Bolling Field on 10 September 1941 , one week after the U . S . Destroyer Greer was attacked by a German submarine off the coast of Iceland . By 1941 the U . S . Weather Bureau had turned over most of its climatological records to the military . Most of the Weather Bureau ’ s climatology had been produced by the depression era WPA project mentioned earlier . Even so , United States military climatology had a long way to go . Both allies and enemies had a strategic advantage during the war because they began their analyses of weather statistics much earlier . The Pearl Harbor attack on 7 December 1941 moved the collection and application of weather statistics to a top - drawer priority overnight . With weather observations and forecasts blacked out in hostile areas , planners turned to the climatologists with their questions . Where should air bases be located ? How should their runways be oriented ? What areas should heavy armor avoid ? What should specifications for fuels , lubricants , landing mats , wires , buildings be ? What times , dates , and locations are best for amphibious landings ? What weather and winds aloftmay be expected for bombing ? Because of the urgent need for climactic information , early in 1942 the WPA civilian punched card project was transformed into a support resource for the Armed Forces . By the end of the war 80 million cards were punched , many from pre - war weather observation forms of other countries . These cards were summarized into products , such as flying weather and low visibility summaries , which were essential for military operations . Throughout World War II , the AAF Weather Service maintained a Climatology Division with its staff at Headquarters U . S . Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) in the Pentagon . In May 1943 the division moved to Asheville , North Carolina where the AAF Weather Wing was organized . The same year the AAF Statistical Services Division was created at Winston - Salem , North Carolina to begin the routine storage and processing of military weather observations . Climatology was a factor in every major or minor WWII operation . The planning for every landing , mission , and offensive , including the D - Day Invasion in 1944 and the atomic bombing of Japan , required extensive climatological preparation and analyses . Postwar . Although demobilization cut deeply into the Air Weather Service ’ s wartime strength of nearly 19 , 000 , the importance of climatology and its applications continued to be recognized . In early 1946 , the military established a Climatology Unit at Gravelly Point , Virginia . In 1948 , the Military Climatology Division moved to Andrews AFB , Maryland with Dr . Woodrow C . Jacobs as its chief . The AAF Statistical Services Division ( about 300 strong ) moved to New Orleans in 1946 as part of the newly created New Orleans Tabulating Unit . This unit was a joint Weather Bureau , Air Force , and Navy climate center established after the war to unify U . S . civilian and military records , observing methods , and data management procedures . After the war , many punched card collections that were acquired from our allies or captured from our enemies were sent to New Orleans for processing ( one set weighed 21 tons ) . The " Kopenhagener Schlussel " deck of 7 million captured German punched cards contained weather observations taken during WWII in Europe and the Middle East . Both the British Admiralty ’ s and the Deutsche Seewarte ’ s decks had millions of ship observations that went back to the 1850s . The 1950s . The Climatic Center at Andrews AFB continued to provide climatological data applications under various designations throughout the decade , with particular emphasis on the war in Korea and the strategic buildup necessitated by the Cold War . Detachment 3 , Headquarters Air Weather Service ( the Postweather Analysis Division ) was organized on 1 May 1954 at Andrews . On 18 December 1957 the AWS merged the Climatic Analysis Division and the Data Integration Branch with Detachment 3 in spaces at Suitland , Maryland formerly occupied by the USAF Weather Central . On 1 April 1959 , Detachment 3 ( the Climatic Center ) moved from Suitland to the Washington Navy Yard ( Annex 2 , at 225 D . Street , Southeast ) on the Potomac River . At this time , IBM electronic accounting equipment installed at the Climatic Center allowed data processing directly from punched card to tape . Physical space necessary to store the growing punched card libraries was dwindling . As a result , the Statistical Services Division in New Orleans moved to Asheville , North Carolina in 1952 and was renamed the Data Control Division . In 1956 , the first electronic computer became operational at Asheville , signaling the end for the high - speed electronic accounting machines ( mostly IBM ) used since World War II to process climatological data . Starting on 11 December 1957 the Climactic Center , USAF became a function within the 2150th Air Weather Squadron . The 1960s . AWS abolished the Directorate of Climatology at Headquarters Air Weather Service and discontinued Detachment 3 , Headquarters Air Weather Service on 1 July 1960 . The Climatic Center , USAF became a " named activity " but remained within the 2150th Air Weather Squadron , which assumed control of Detachment 3 ' s operating location ( the Data Processing Division ) at Asheville . On 1 July 1961 the 2150th was redesignated as the 1210th Weather Squadron and on 1 May 1963 it was reassigned from Headquarters Air Weather Service to the 4th Weather Group . In 1964 , an IBM 7040 computer was installed at the Climatic Center . Effective 15 December 1964 the Climatic Center , USAF was redesignated the Environmental Technical Applications Center ( ETAC ) and the Data Processing Division became Operating Location 1 ( OL - 1 , 1210 WS ) under ETAC . The 1210th was reassigned to the 6th Weather Wing on 8 October 1965 . On 8 July 1967 the center became an organization , the United States Air Force Environmental Technical Applications Center , ( USAFETAC ) and the 1210th was discontinued . Computer upgrades continued . OL - 1 bought a new IBM 705 - III from the Department of Agriculture in 1965 and an IBM 7044 replaced the 7040 in 1966 . In 1968 , twin RCA Spectra 70 / 45 computer systems were commissioned at Asheville for joint use by OL - 1 and the National Climatic Data Center ( then the National Weather Records Center ) . The 1970s . In July 1970 , OL - 1 was renamed OL - A . By 1972 , OL - A ’ s card - punching function had been all but eliminated , resulting in a manpower drop from about 200 to 122 . A further reduction brought OL - A ’ s authorized civilian strength to 83 . USAFETAC was reassigned to Air Force Global Weather Central ( AFGWC ) on 1 August 1975 . Effective 30 August 1975 the center transferred its flag from its Washington , D . C . Navy Yard Annex location to a location on the south side of Scott AFB , Illinois following a legal battle in Washington D . C . over where the Center should be located . The move , which took 13 months and put USAFETAC ’ s project commitments about 2 years behind schedule , was declared complete on 31 October 1975 when the new PDP 11 / 45 and IBM 360 / 45 computers became operational . In 1976 , the merged HQ AWS and USAFETAC Library ( the largest technical library dedicated to weather in the U . S ) was designated Air Force Library # 4414 , and named the “ AWS Technical Library . ” In 1979 , the twin RCA computers at OL - A were replaced by UNIVAC 1100 / 10s . And , by the end of 1979 , USAFETAC strength reached 232 people , with 149 of those employed at Scott AFB and 83 people employed at Asheville . By the end of the decade , the demand for climatological services remained extremely high , with the project backlog at nearly fifty thousand man - hours . The 1980s and 90s . USAFETAC continued to use computer and electronic technologies as its computing power expanded exponentially through the ‘ 80s and ‘ 90s . When AWS was reassigned from Military Airlift Command , becoming a Field Operating Agency reporting to the USAF Director of Weather , USAFETAC was transferred from AFGWC to AWS on 9 July 1991 . To better reflect the changing mission of the unit , USAFETAC was renamed the Air Force Combat Climatology Center ( AFCCC ) on 1 October 1995 . AWS was redesignated as the Air Force Weather Agency ( AFWA ) on 15 October 1997 . With the end of the Cold War , AFCCC faced a 45 % cut in overall manning ( civilian positions were to be cut by 65 % ) . This required an organizational restructure . On 17 May 1996 USAF announced that AFCCC would move from Scott AFB to Asheville , NC . This move was completed on 1 July 1998 , with the unit transferring its flag to the Federal Building Complex alongside the National Climatic Data Center . OL - A was discontinued with this change of station and its mission and personnel were absorbed by the center . The 21st century . In another reorganization of the Air Force Weather Agency , AFCCC was redesignated Air Force Combat Climatolory Squadron on 28 February 2007 . This redesignation was short lived and the squadron became the 14th Weather Squadron on 19 October 2007 and was reassigned to the 2nd Weather Group . At the end of 2007 , the authorized strength of 14 WS stood at 95 positions . The 14 WS possesses the DoD ’ s most complete repository of worldwide weather data , receiving nearly 500 , 000 weather observations and satellite - derived wind profiles each day . Over the unit ’ s history , customer support has expanded to include all of the military services , the joint commands , AF and Army major commands , U . S . intelligence agencies , the White House and foreign allied military organizations . Today ’ s military climatologists and analysts continue to fulfil customer requests similar to those of their predecessors as long as 60 years ago , but with improved techniques and equipment . Resources have grown from punched card data decks from the 1930s to many client / server networks and climatic databases . 14 WS is continuously upgrading to the latest data visualization techniques and other technologies as they become available . This has allowed 14 WS to provide natural environment representations to the DoD modeling & simulation community for use in all live , virtual , and constructive simulation - based activities . On 30 Nov 2007 , the Environmental Scenario Generator ( ESG ) transitioned from research and development to operational use . ESG provides the ability to generate customized environmental scenario databases for simulations supporting the DoD in training , acquisition , testing , planning , and experimentation activities . In an increasingly net - centric environment , the squadron develops tool sets to acquire , use , and share products in a distributed environment , integrating environmental information and embedding people into the and decision cycles . Emblem . BLAZON : On a disc Azure , an anemometer Sable fimbriated or environed by a tri - parted knot Celeste overall ; all within a narrow border Blue . Attached below the disc , a White scroll edged with a narrow Blue border and inscribed " 14TH WEATHER SQUADRON " in Blue letters . SIGNIFICANCE : Ultramarine blue and Air Force yellow are the Air Force colors . Blue alludes to the sky , the primary theater of Air Force operations . Yellow refers to the sun and the excellence required of Air Force personnel . The tri - parted knot alludes to the worldwide data base archived on computer tape . The weather anemometer icon denotes the unit ’ s mission .