This is in honor of my Fathers' commitment to Service in the USAF & FAA.
(Retired Major/GS-15 Frank G. Coons Jr.)

After OTS in Jul 1953 he was assigned to UCLA for further education in Meteorology on what would be his life long career as a Meteorologist. My Father would log ~4,000 flight hrs with the 55th WRS in a course of 6 yrs and make his greatest contribution during the cold war in what he calls the venerable WB-50.

In Feb 1958 he was assigned to Hickam AFB prior to being sent to Enewetok Atoll (Marshall Islands) in support of Operation Hardtack, where he witnessed numerous atomic detonations over a course of 5 months.

In 1962, he was assigned as the Wing Weather Officer at Westover AFB; in 1964 he went to Penn State for USAF sponsored Graduate work in Meteorology. After completing his course work, he was assigned to Air Weather Service (AWS) HQ at Scott AFB. He worked in the Physical Sciences Directorate of AWS Aerospace Sciences, where he and his USAF colleagues investigated fog dispersal techniques where visibility restrictions due to fog hampered flight operations.

He was the Project Manager for fog dispersal tests conducted at Travis AFB by using the exhaust heat generated by a C141 to increase runway visibility. The most successful fog dispersal (Project Cold Cowl) came in 1968 at Elmendorf AFB where he and several fellow Officers were given Letters of Appreciation by MAC Commander, Gen. Howell M. Estes Jr., for their contributions in aiding 91 arrivals & 94 departures in support of SE Asia operations.

In 1970, he left active duty to join the FAA where he continued his investigations into fog dispersal. Due to the number of commercial aircraft accidents that were attributed to Low-Level Windshear in the 70's, the FAA formed a R&D Group to investigate techniques and systems that could detect, track and measure the severity of the outflow from storms affecting airport arrival and departure operations. From theses early investigations sprang financial support from the FAA, USAF, NOAA and Universities that led to the development, production and deployment of Doppler Weather Radars both nationwide and at many US airports. My Father, as the FAA Representative and Weather Scientist, was instrumental in obtaining critical government funding toward the support of these aviation safety systems that are in service at our airports today.

Respectfully submitted Michael D Coons