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Photos

Snapshots of what’s happening in the Defense Department.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Douglas Gautrau, a WC-130J Hercules aircraft flight meteorologist assigned to the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, part of the Air Force Reserve Command, adjusts his instrument panel before a mission to collect data from Hurricane Igor on the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Sept. 17, 2010. The 403rd Wing deployed three WC-130Js from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron to St. Croix to collect data on Hurricane Igor in the Caribbean. Known as the Hurricane Hunters the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron's mission is to provide surveillance of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the central Pacific Ocean for the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Capt. Douglas Gautrau adjusts his instrument panel before a mission.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Douglas Gautrau, a WC-130J Hercules aircraft flight meteorologist assigned to the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, part of the Air Force Reserve Command, adjusts his instrument panel before a mission to collect data from Hurricane Igor on the island of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Sept. 17, 2010. The 403rd Wing deployed three WC-130Js from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron to St. Croix to collect data on Hurricane Igor in the Caribbean. Known as the Hurricane Hunters the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron's mission is to provide surveillance of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the central Pacific Ocean for the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

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