Just read a cool article (http://www.nbcnews.com/pages/weathermen?cid=par-rightmodule) on a military specialty I hadn't heard of before - the SOWT - Special Operations Weather Technician!

Definitely give the article a read - some cool history in there about how these guys can make/break the success of an operation. They aren't just desk jockeys either - they get up close and personal with the enemy. There's a great quote in there from a Delta Force operator who said of them, "They could swing like Tarzan, think like Einstein and climb like Spider-Man.”

Anyhow it got me thinking it would be a great basis for a fun custom fig! Maybe somebody has already done this idea? The possible code names that come to mind are pretty fun too - Lightning, Thunder, Downpour, Cold Front, Blue Skies, Tempest, Green Light, Atmosphere, Cloudburst....etc; some other possible ideas to be found here:

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/box/glossary.htm

I have two or three characters that are weather mission specialists.

Gotta find those file card bios...

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I have integrated two of the unproduced 87 + 88 concepts, The Tornado Twins as GI Joe's resident SOWT specialists -

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These guys are an important part in any mission planing. They are a great bunch of operators.

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Reminds me of one of the leads in the book Red Storm Rising.

- R

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Any links to characters in the custom gallery? would love to see what others have come up with.


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After looking over lists of weather related terminology, I finally settled on a codename I liked and just sat down to write up a quick filecard. I had one character named 'Isobar' who ran the JOE weather bureau for missions, but that was pretty much a place holder name.


No figure yet, gonna see what I can come up with using the Hero Machine site. As usual, I included some unique and somewhat topical bio info...



Special Operations Weather Technician
Codename: Rain Check
Codename: Gale, Henry M.
SNL: AF (Classified)
PMS: Meteorology
SMS: Data Analysis
POB: Merriam, Kansas
Grade: E6 Technical Sgt (USAF)

The JOEs are a rapid deployment task force that needs to respond to the threats of Cobra, whatever clime the fight takes them. As such, they need to have consistent, up-to-date weather data to plan their missions. The SOWTs are fully trained combat meteorologists capable of deploying alongside other SF operators and providing weather intell in support of all types of action. Rain Check is one of the best SOWTs in the Air Force and came highly recommended from Hurlburt Field. When he is not actively engaged in the field on a mission, Rain Check hangs out in the PIT Meteorological Center he affectionately calls, 'Trade WInds'.

From Duke: "Hard to believe we ever really needed a combat weatherman on the team, since most of our missions are spur-of-the-moment responses to Cobra's threat. In the old days someone would get the weather report for the target area or click on the Weather Channel. Our pilots do the weather check before they fly, so we can concentrate on the object at hand. Anybody can stick their head outs and see if it is raining or snowing, but with Rain Check on the team, and in the field, we can stay on top of the weather issues and use it to our advantage. Oh, why do we call him 'Rain Check'? The guy has the worst luck with stores..."




Please LMK if I need to change up any of the PMS or SMS sections...

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This is the only weather related specialty I've ever done.
http://www.joecustoms.com/customs/custo ... tormchaser

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I used to work with a guy that was a meteorologist in the Air Force

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DJ - nice bio! The bit at the end is a nice bit double or even triple entendre

Pluv - dig yours too. The joes definitely needed a SOWT with the whole weather dominator bit! And storm chaser is a good name but with the tornadoes that recently tore through my area (northern IL) it really hit home to think some people purposely head into that!

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This was my closest to that specialty. A repurposed mayday!

http://www.joecustoms.com/customs/customs_specific_item.php?kind=figure&thumbs=on&alpha=M&uid=445&id=13337

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Thanx.

I probably searched about 10 different pages of weather related terminology and was getting nowhere fast.

I sat in the chair here after another failed search and thought, "How bleeping hard is is to come up with a codename for a guy that checks the weather?"

The light bulb came on and I immediately had the ending hook for the blurb at the end. I wanted him to be from Kansas (naturally) and he had to reference the Wizard of Oz somehow. Using 'Gale' was the obvious last name, not only for Dorothy's family name but for the fact that gale is a weather condition. Henry and M are references to Uncle Henry and Auntie Em from the movie. After that is was finding a city in Kansas that hadn't been used before and then looking up the SOWT page to get some bio info.

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