From September of 1986 through September of 1990 I served in the USAF Air Weather Service, primarily at Fort Devens Massachusetts. Though I had joined the Air Force I ended up working with the Army because when the Air Force separated from the Army back in 1949 one of the many functions kept solely by Air Force was meteorology.
Looking back it wasn't a bad gig at all and I'm glad I did it, but I am just as glad it's over - they don't call the military the service for nothing. The Army warrant officers with whom I worked were some of the most professional people you can imagine. The Air Force on the whole and the Air Weather Service in particular is staffed with bright, hard working and dedicated young people, I am proud to have been associated with them.
One of my pet peeves in Hollywood movies depicting things military is all the actors are in their late twenties or older. In fact you'll see some peach fuzzy18 year kid doing some tough, dangerous and/or highly technical job with aplomb. In a military operation a guy in his mid thirties is pretty damn old on average and usually a senior NCO or officer.
The link below has pictures and info on all the equipment we used to observe and predict the weather. If you have any interest in the subject check it out.
http://www.airweaassn.org/Library/Equipment/Weather%20Museum.htm
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