Hurricane Hunter fleets from the Air Force and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (NOAA) deployed into tropical cyclones to gather critical storm data, are falling behind on missions, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released March 14.
According to the GAO, aging aircraft, personnel shortages, and poor interagency coordination are leading to delays and missed missions.
The report stated that missed mission requirements during the tropical cyclone season have increased, rising from an average of 6% between 2014 and 2018 to 9% between 2019 and 2023. The winter season poses even greater challenges, with icing and limited maintenance capabilities on the West Coast contributing to an average miss rate of nearly 30% since 2020.
The GAO noted in its report that despite a 36% rise in storm missions from 2019 to 2023 compared to 2014–2018 and a nearly thirteenfold increase in winter missions for atmospheric river tracking from 2015 to 2024, NOAA and the Air Force have not expanded their fleets or staffing levels.
“Since 2014, a growing number of mission requirements have been missed. However, NOAA and the Air Force have not systematically tracked the reasons for this. They also have not comprehensively assessed their Hurricane Hunter workforces to see if changes to staffing levels or workforce structure are needed,” the report noted.
The GAO report emphasized in its report that NOAA’s crew have been thinly staffed for years, resulting in unsustainable heavy workloads that have contributed to greater burnout for personnel.
Additionally, the GAO report found that NOAA and the Air Force struggle with coordination.“NOAA and Air Force senior leaders do not have a mechanism to regularly communicate with each other about their plans and resources. This has hampered the agencies’ ability to ensure that their decisions about investments in the Hurricane Hunters are aligned.”
GAO recommended that NOAA and the Air Force track mission failures, assess workforce needs, and improve senior-level coordination.
In response to the report, Lt. Gen. John P. Healy, head of Air Force Reserve Command, said the Air Force is working to streamline aircraft upgrades.
“As this process continues to mature, Air Force Reserve Command will identify and support changes to improve processes both within the command as well as with their mission partners,” Healy said.
