NAVAL WEATHER SERVICE ASSOCIATION

An association of Aerographers & Mates,
Meteorologists & Oceanographers

Articles of Special Interest
2/19/2026
Click Image to Enlarge
                                        Wind reading by AerM/1c Robert Sizemore at
                                      Shanpa, Inner Mongolia, during late 1944 (USN).

                                                              Ninety Saddles For Kengtu
                                                                                        By Edmund G. Love
                                                         Collier's Magazine, Sept. 6, 1952
One site's account of the Sino-American Cooperative Agreement (SACO) in which a network of Navy weather stations were scattered across Inner Mongolia in late World War II. Ninety Saddles for Kengtu was the basis for the 1953 movie, Destination Gobi.
                                
2/18/2026
CNMOC HALL OF FAME INDUCTION

RDML Erin Acosta presenting the Hall of Fame Award to

CAPT Zdenka Willis, USN (Ret.)


Ms. Zdenka Willis was inducted into the Naval Oceanography Hall of Fame in ceremony hosted by the United States Naval Observatory on February 5, 2026. Ms. Willis has 36 years of public service in the U.S. Navy and with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 

Ms. Willis retired with the rank of Captain from the United States Navy. As Meteorology and Oceanography officer, she deployed onboard Navy survey vessels, and held a wide range of duties including: Deputy Navigator of the Navy, Deputy to Naval Deputy to NOAA; Director of the National Ice Center; Commanding Officer of Oceanographic Unit One at sea on the USNS HARKNESS; Director of the Strategic Policy Forum (a crisis simulation for Members of Congress, senior Executive branch officials, and military leaders); and as adjunct professor in the Strategic Leadership Department at the National Defense University.

 

Ms. Willis has a Bachelor’s degree in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina, Master’s degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from Dalhousie University.

She retired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Senior Executive Service where she was the founding Director of the United States Integrated Ocean Observing Systems (IOOS) Office. From 2006 to 2007, she was the Director of NOAA’s National Oceanographic Data Center. At NOAA, she represented U.S. Ocean observing internationally, chaired the GOOS Regional Alliance Forum for 5 years, established key governance protocols, and assessed capabilities across the GOOS Regional Alliances.

 

She also served as Vice Chair of USGEO and co-led the development of the first U.S. National Strategy for Civil Earth Observations, released by the White House. She represented U.S. earth observations to the Group on Earth Observations with interagency colleagues. Ms. Willis is an MTS Fellow and CEO of Veraison Consulting, focusing on ocean technology and policy.

 

Submitted by LCDR Dennis Ruth, USN (Ret.)



A Mini-History of Naval Weather & Oceanography
By LT Frank Baillie, USN (Ret)

Pages
 
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23
Each Page Loads Slowly -- Be Patient


Weather-Related Incidents

Admiral Nimitz's Pacific Fleet Confidential Letter on Lessons of Damage in Typhoon


Foreword to “The Flying, Fighting Weathermen of Patrol Wing Four”

By Michael Carrigan


AG1 NAC (Ret) Ed Straten



HOW I BECAME AN AG

AGCM Thomas M. Miovas, USN (Ret)

(A Few Sea Stories Included)

Submitted by LCDR Robert M. Josephs, USN RET

Submitted by AG1 Steven Smith, USN RET

Submitted by xAG2 Robert Devine, USN REL

CAPT R. Claude "Frenchy" Corbeille, USN RET 





Elected Officer Reports

 

** President

 

** Secretary/Treasurer

 

** Aerograph Editor

 

Historian

 

** Scholarship Committee

 


 

Chapters News

 


NWSA Hampton Roads Chapter
Norfolk, VA 
Latest News

  

NWSA Pensacola Chapter

  Pensacola, FL

 

NWSA Southeast Florida Chapter

Latest News