section we will discuss various sources of information,
and factors to be considered and acted upon.
PUBLICATION REVIEW
When preparing for operations or exercises the
forecaster should review all available METOC
publications to assess the environmental impact on the
area of interest.
Review of the U.S. Navy Oceanographic and
Meteorological Support System Manual,
NAVMETOCCOMINST 3140.1
It is a good practice to review the U.S. Navy
Oceanographic and Meteorological Support System
Manual at the earliest time prior to any operation or
exercise, if for no other reason, to jog your memory for
potential sources of support.
Review of METOC Technical Bulletins
COMNAVMETOCCOM, NAVOCEANO, and the
National Weather Service to name just a few commands
and organizations, promulgate on a nonroutine basis
bulletins that may be of benefit in the planning and
execution of operations.
It is incumbent on the
forecaster to review these bulletins and publications for
possible application in upcoming operations.
Review of METOC OPORDs
It is critical that the OA division be involved at the
earliest in the drafting, planning, and execution of
exercise OPORDs. Weather guard assignments,
planned intended movements (PIMs), and required
METOC services are just a few of many considerations
that will be covered in the OPTASK METOC section of
an OPORD.
Review of Climatology
As discussed earlier in this manual, climatology
plays a critical role in operational planning. The various
players will want to know at the earliest opportunity
what type of weather conditions can be expected.
Chapters 10 and 13 of this text deal with climatology
and its various sources. The U.S. Navy Oceanographic
and Meteorological Support System Manual,
NAVMETOCCOMINST 3140.1, contains a chapter on
climatology support services for planning and research.
In planning for a future exercise, it helps to glean
information from previous deployments. The next
section will deal with this subject.
METEOROLOGICAL AND
OCEANOGRAPHIC (METOC)
POST-DEPLOYMENT REPORTS
The instruction, Oceanographic Post Deployment
Reports, NAVMETOCCOMINST 3140.23, requires a
post-deployment report be prepared to describe
meteorological and oceanographic conditions
encountered (and quality of support received) after a
major deployment by ships with permanently assigned
METOC personnel.
Content
At a minimum, METOC post-deployment reports
should contain an overview of the following:
Environmental support received
Unique METOC conditions experienced
Services provided to other units
Problems encountered
Any new procedures attempted
Enclosure (1) to NAVMETOCCOMINST3140.23
provides an outline to be followed in preparing the
report. A daily log will ease preparation of the report.
Discussion
The
instruction,
Meteorological and
Oceanographic
Post-Deployment Reports,
NAVMETOCCOMINST 3140.23, has been
coordinated with Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet
(CINCPACFLT), Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet
(CINCLANTFLT), and Commander-in-Chief, U.S.
Navy, Europe (CINCUSNAVEUR).
CLASSIFICATION. Normally, METOC post-
deployment reports are unclassified. However, if
necessary, a confidential enclosure may be included.
Secret enclosures are discouraged, but may be included
if deemed germane.
TIMELINESS. Post-deployment reports should
be submitted via the ships commanding officer within
6 weeks of the end of the deployment.
In this day of regular introduction of new and more
sophisticated METOC equipage, platform sensors, and
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