4 December 2008  -   More sad news this week.  AWRA Life Member, CMSgt John W Kosick, passed away on 26 Nov 2008.  John was a frequent attendee of the Association reunions.  He spent several tours at both the 55th and 54th WRS before being assigned to the 9th WRW and Hq AWS.   John was interred at the Ft Custer National Cemetary, in Augusta, MI, on 1 Dec 2008. 

25 November 2008  -   We are sad to relay the news that AWRA Life Member Barry Granlund recently passed away.  Barry flew WC-130's with the 53rd WRS and was also at the 9th WRW and HQ AWS.  The following was published in the Anchorage Daily News.  If we hear any more about the memorial, we will pass it on. 

Barry Granlund

Barry Granlund of Eagle River died Nov. 5, 2008, at home. A service is being planned for January. Details will be published at a later date. Arrangements are with Janssen's Evergreen Memorial Chapel.
 
Published in the adn.com from 11/18/2008 - 11/19/2008

4 November 2008  -   We've received many photos of the reunion from members who were there.  Two new pages of photos have been posted.  Follow the reunion link at the top of this page and scroll down to see the links to the photos.  We've also heard from many members who are sad that they missed the Ft Walton Beach function.  We hope that they (and you) will be there when we meet in San Antonio TX in 2009.

27 Oct 2008  -   The just concluded 2008 Reunion of Members was a total success!  Ralph Ruyle and Guy Dunn really outdid themselves this year.  The Ramada Beach Resort was a fantastic setting in the beautiful Florida sunshine.  Hope everyone can join us next year (2009) when we meet in San Antonio Texas.  To see some pictures from the 2008 reunion, follow the reunion link at the top of the page.  There are currently two pages, so scroll through them both.  For folks who were in Ft Walton Beach, please send me your photos to share at:  awra038@aol.com  

14 Oct 2008 -  HEY, WE'RE BACK!   No, excuses.  Lot's of things going on with the association, so let's get started.  The reunion kicks off this Sunday (the 19th) Ralph has done a great job setting up a fantastic agenda.  We are expecting upwards of 75 folks for the banquet, hope you are going to be there, but if not, be sure to check out the reunion page (link at the top of this page) for photos and news from Ft Walton Beach starting on Sunday.

SPEAKING ABOUT THE REUNION.  One of the primary agenda items for the membership meeting is to select NEXT year's site and look at possible places for 2010 and beyond.  IF YOU HAVE A GREAT LOCATION IN MIND FOR 2009, OR JUST WANT TO MAKE A SUGGESTION FOR DOWN THE ROAD, E-MAIL US ASAP at:  awra038@aol.com    We will include your suggestions at the meeting.  Remember, your location sounds even better if you volunteer to host it!

We have made contact with lots of new folks this summer.  As a result we have many stories to share, pictures to post, etc.  Keep an eye on the gallery.  One new contact was Col Jerry Lasco.  Col Lasco was Commander of the 54th on one of his 3 tours to Guam.  He can't make it to Ft Walton Beach this year, but will hopefully come in the future. 

27 Feb 2008  -   Added a page with the lineage for the 1st Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Air Route, Medium.  This is a prototype for the rest of the units as well.  It is not intended as the all encompassing story, but rather the standard info like lineage, emblems, and commanders.  The see the page, go here.   The 1st WRS was earlier known as the Army Air Forces Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (Test) Number One, and the 30th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Air Route, Medium, before it was the 1st WRS.

21 Feb 2008  -   Posted an article about the WB-66D that was operated by TAC from 1957 through 1965, and by PACAF and USAFE from 1957 to 1960.  It pioneered such marvels as the multi-shot dropsonde dispenser and use of a teletypewriter to transmit and recieve data.  We would love to hear from folks who crewed the WB-66D.

14 Feb 2008  -   The link to photos from our 2007 Reunion in Tucson is finally fixed.  We ended up building a new page - apparently the old one got deleted from our archive.  There are lot's of photos still available, so we plan to add more pages soon.  If anyone has a good quality picture of the Dropsonde Operator annual group photo, please E-mail me.  The versions received so far are too dark.

For general interest, one of our stalwart members, Bill Davis, is currently at home recovering from heart attack(s) and subsequent triple by-pass surgery.  He is doing OK, but would love to hear from folks.  Feel free to contact the web master for Bill's phone number or address.

31 Jan 2008  -   It may seem like cheating, but we posted our first Gallery Update in quite awhile, and are counting it as a Jan 2008 product.  The good news is that we have all of Feb to get out our next one!  This month we highlight a long time tradition of taking unit photos.   This was very prevalent from the earliest days of military aviation through the 1960's.  We don't find too many examples of the pictures (at least of weather reconnaissance units) from 1966 on.   AWRA would very much like to  gather other examples of unit or crew photos if anyone has them.  To see the Gallery item, follow this link.  And just a reminder to check out the latest information about the AWRA 2008 Reunion in Fort Walton Beach, FL scheduled for 19 - 23 Oct 2008.   Click on the reunion link at the top of the page.

1 Jan 2008  -   Welcome to a brand new year.   We at AWRA hope that 2008 brings all of you happiness and  good health.  We are looking forward to great time making contact with many new members and sharing more of the story of weather reconnaissance and atmospheric sampling.

Goals for 2008:

1.  More web page updates!  Your webmaster has been busy this past year and has failed in his duties to the site.  Part of this was due to also being the lead planner for the Tucson reunion - which was a great success - and helping our daughter plan her New Year's Eve eve (i.e. Dec 30th) wedding.  Add to this a new grandson born on Dec 31st to our other daughter ... anyway I have been busy, honest. 

2.  Help Ralph Ruyle make the 2008 AWRA Reunion of Members the best ever.  We had over 110 members and guests attend the 2007 reunion in Tucson.  This included several first time attendees and lots of familiar faces.  This year we will gather at the Ramada Plaza Beach Resort in Fort Walton Beach, FL, from 19 to 23 October 2008.   There are many members, and potential members, who reside within an easy commute.  Let's try and top last year's total!

3.  Get the AWRA roster available online.  The general membership voted in Tucson to move our membership roster from a printed hard copy mailed every two years, to an online product that hopefully will be up-to-date every month.  We are working out a system to keep the information secure and make it available to paid members only.  Watch for news on this in the 2007 Newsletter in April.

4.  Continue to gather as many war stories as possible from you, the men and women who flew weather reconnaissance and/or supported the mission.  If you would like to share your story, please contact us at: