Air Guard Weather School Takes Flight

The Florida Air National Guard inactivated the Weather Readiness Training Center at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, near Starke, and rechristened it the 131st Training Flight. “The unit will finally be its own numbered unit,” said Maj. John Waltbillig, 131st TF commander, during the April 12 redesignation ceremony. “And it gives us the command authority that our students deserve,” he added. The unit will continue training ANG weather personnel in combat meteorological tasks. It may even expand to train airmen from across the Air Guard in a variety of battlefield skills, said Waltbillig. “As the training missions continue to morph and evolve, the 131st Training Flight will continue to meet the needs of today’s Air Force and the National Guard,” he said. Established as a training course in 1992, the WRTC became a formal school in 2000, training weathermen from across the Air Guard. (Camp Blanding report by MSgt. Thomas Kielbasa)