Insomniacs will know from the shipping forecast and weather reports, that most met forecasts are now derived from automated data stations. What puzzles me is why, in the RN, the Hydrography/Meteorological (HM) branch seems to be expanding at light speed. Naval Air Stations in particular seem to have Met Sections that have more people than are necessary to man a frigate (alright - slight exaggeration) - they call themselves watchkeepers but Met Observers rarely do more than go outside and gaze at the clouds every fifteen minutes - odd when you think that there is a laser cloud reader, whizzo bits of kit that measure rainfall etc and the BBC weather forecast. Met Officers are also seriously weird - clearly failed schoolies, they wrap up their rubbish in pseudo science - frankly, a bit of seaweed and a seamans eye provides more accurate information. It seems to me, that the Meteorological specialisation is living in the 1950's and is an anachrosism that would prove a far better bet for efficiency savings than the front line.
THE METEOROLOGY SPECIALISATION - WASTE OF RATIONS?
- Thread starter fido
- Start date
only being a lowly AB don't get much involved with the forcast much beyond "Is it wet outside?", 
I've been in the room when a full met brief was issued durring an amphib ex and I can say the amount of detail was emense even down to the drift of the wind would cause on the landing craft in increments that even I thought were excessive but obviously required.. :roll: ......so probably yes we do need quite a lot of weather bods to pull all this info together gathered from all this hi-tech gumph, to present to our lords and masters in the right way :roll: :roll: so we don't all end up dead coz the landing craft strayed out of the safe channel............. 8O :lol:
I've been in the room when a full met brief was issued durring an amphib ex and I can say the amount of detail was emense even down to the drift of the wind would cause on the landing craft in increments that even I thought were excessive but obviously required.. :roll: ......so probably yes we do need quite a lot of weather bods to pull all this info together gathered from all this hi-tech gumph, to present to our lords and masters in the right way :roll: :roll: so we don't all end up dead coz the landing craft strayed out of the safe channel............. 8O :lol:
Best thing about the met branch was relieving them of a couple of weather ballons. Could always get a laugh in the mess betting one of the new guys that he wasn't man enough to inflate if using just his lungs. Waited till he got it to about four feet diameter thenpopped it with a ciggie. Amazing just how far the french chalk could go but the inflater got most of it. looks really good on black trousers
You are right here - 'Droggies' fulfill an essential function and, in my dotage, I sometimes wish that I had been one instead of a bog standard seaman spec (AV). Met's, however, seem to be the exception - little skill, recorders only and a waste of space - Met services from commercial sources are far superior.
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