The Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology Education and Training resides within the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) to serve as a training and education bridge between meteorology research and operations. Since our inception in 1989, The COMET Program has had continuous sponsorship from both the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command and the Air Force Weather Agency. More recently, we have also partnered with the Naval Technical Training Unit (NTTU) to create meteorology educational materials to benefit their meteorology school at Keesler AFB in Mississippi.

For several years both the Navy and Air Force have been specifically teaming with COMET employees to create a focused training series on mesoscale meteorology topics. This Mesoscale Meteorology Primer, originally conceived by instructors in the U.S. Navy and Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), is a multimedia web-based training program designed to improve mesoscale weather predictions made by U.S. military forecasters. The intent is to introduce military forecasters to mesoscale weather phenomena and teach them how to best use their high resolution NWP model output.

The modules that comprise the Primer are designed in two types: 1) short conceptual foundation modules and 2) longer, more elaborate modules that address specific mesoscale weather phenomena. The longer modules all contain a forecast scenario and an exam. The conceptual foundation modules provide essential elaboration on important aspects of mesoscale meteorology. Response from the community has been enthusiastic, and although the materials are designed to be appropriate for military forecasters, we also find strong interest from NWS forecasters with a decade or more of experience. Primer modules have been incorporated into university courses and training programs at NWS forecast offices. Learners appreciate the scenario storyline, operational focus, rich graphics, and the non-jargon explanations.

Another recent addition to the COMET/DoD partnership is one in which COMET Program staff (along with many others) have assisted the NTTU in modernizing their Aerographer’s Mate (Weather Forecaster) school for young Sailors and Marines. Until it’s recent revision, this 7-month course was both outdated and largely paper-based. COMET’s contributions to the revamping of the Aerographer’s C-school curriculum included providing instructive graphics and animations, sharing expertise in convective severe weather and other mesoscale meteorology topics, providing historical case data, and harnessing other resources from the meteorology community as a whole. With a theme of “scientifically correct, operationally relevant”, a vastly modernized electronic course of instruction has been fielded. The first class of students to undertake this superior course graduated in June 2003.