October 8, 2007: In some parts of the world,
weather has a major impact on military pilot training. This is the case in the
Philippines, which is sometimes hit by several typhoons (hurricane like storms,
but larger) in quick succession. In addition to airfield and facility damage,
the training aircraft have to be flown out of the way, often a long distance
because of the size of these storms. New pilots have to get 150 hours in the
air to complete their training, which is supposed to take a year. But if there
is a bad typhoon season, pilots may be delayed, a month or more, from
completing their training.
These typhoons also severely disrupt all military
aviation operations. Aircraft must be sent away, often far away, and bases
battened down to minimize storm damage. Airbases can be out of action for weeks
per typhoon.
Warships are also at risk, although these days,
weather satellites have eliminated the surprise factor. Not so in the past. On
December 17, 1944, Task Force 38 was blindsided by a typhoon off the
Philippines. Over 800 sailors were killed, three destroyers were sunk, and
twenty other ships severely damaged, while many aircraft were damaged or
destroyed. This was not the only time a Task Force ran afoul of a storm, simply
the worst. One reason for the seriousness of this incident may be due to the fact
that Admiral Halsey flew his flag from a battleship, which was much more stable
in foul weather than a destroyer, particularly one which was low on fuel.
The typhoon "nursery" (for those north of
the equator in the Pacific) is between 155 and 165 degrees east longitude, and
from the Equator to about 20 degrees north, at least for most of the year. From
January through March it's between 145-155 degrees. Further complicating
matters, some ferocious storms form west of Japan in the Sea of Japan and a few
even further north, over land in north east Siberia and then gain typhoon
strength as they move out over the water. Most of these "northern"
typhoons don't get beyond storm (over 62 kilometers per hour wind) strength,
but some do. For every typhoon, there are several storms of (somewhat) lesser
ferocity, which could be almost as bad as a typhoon, as carrier operations are
not possible during most storms, and this makes it easier for enemy submarines
to get close to the carriers. All of this storm activity happened smack in the
middle of the Central Pacific, an area where there are still some major
American military bases.
