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Weatherman: ‘I enjoyed going to work every day’

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Erica Crossen
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  

Thanks to 30 years as an air weather service member, retired Chief Master Sgt. John Steffen can look at the clouds and see what's coming.

 

"Did you know there are 29 different kinds of clouds? You know what cumulonimbus mammatus is? It's the kind of clouds with pockets on the bottom that's indicative of thunderstorms on the way."

 

Things have changed a lot since he entered training in 1959, but through it all he said he enjoyed "going to work every day."

 

"Back then we didn't have computers to rely on and help us forecast, we went into the fields and analyzed the clouds and skies based on what we saw.  As forecasters would brief the commanders and pilots about the weather, so we needed to make sure [our forecasts] were accurate," he said. "People couldn't blame a wrong weather forecast on the computer like they can now."

 

He explained that there used to be two kinds jobs that could be done in the weather specialty, an observer or a forecaster. In his career, he went through training to do both jobs, something not many could do. As a new master sergeant, he took the opportunity to go to forecaster school in 1976, which was a nine-month technical school at the time. 

 

He retired from the Air Force in 1989 at Scott Air Force Base and worked temporarily for the Department of Labor.  During this time he was a part of the creation of the Transition Assistance Program in 1991. Down the road, he became the TAP manager at the Scott Family Support Center, which has now been renamed as the Airman and Family Readiness Center. He went on to be the director, retiring in 2005, after 13 years of working for military families.

 

"It was rewarding to work there because it's a great feeling knowing that you've helped someone," said Steffen.  "That's why I like volunteering at the Retiree Activities Office because I get to help the veterans who come in, and being here helps me stay involved in what's going on in the military."

 

He said he reads up on the latest news in the Air Force, and it becomes a topic of conversation when he meets up with old colleagues and friends.

 

"Every Friday, there's a group of Air Weather Service Chiefs who are retired around here, and we go out to lunch and discuss the Air Force as it is now and the way it used to be."

 

They reminisce about their military careers, and the places it took them such as the time he lived overseas in Italy.  The first thing he learned was how to ask in Italian "è questa casa in affitto?" which means "Is this house for rent?"  And when he lived in Spain, he had the opportunity to help forecast the weather for the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, for his flight to the United States.

 

In addition to world travel, he said the Air Force afforded him the opportunity of studying for his Bachelor's degree while stationed in England, and later earning it while in Spain.

 

"The smartest move I ever made was when I decided to join the Air Force. It helped me achieve my educational goals," said Steffen.  "Education was stressed back then and even more for Airmen currently serving."