MSgt James "Buck" Buchanan

Air Force | Weather

Dates of Service: Feb 1970 - Jun 1995

RETIRED

95% Complete

3 Endorsements

19 Contacts

Influence Score: 63,423
1,132 out of 862,669 Veterans

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Bio

I began my career in the "old" weather AFSC, which included active observing of the weather...possibly the best job I had. I exited the AF in 1977, reentering in 1980. I progressed through responsibility and rank, retiring in 1995 as the Chief, Weather Station Operations at Ft. Polk, LA. Post military retirement employment included a short stint with NWS then working as a contractor providing range and operations weather forecasting support to NASA, Wallops Island, VA for over 4 years, followed by providing weather training support at 26 OWS, Barksdale AFB, LA. I have been fully retired since March 2015. My wife and I have enjoyed full-time RVing for the last couple of years but are about to settle down into a "tiny house"/park model RV. We both continue to be involved in varied church activities.

Military Experiences

Apr 1994 - Jun 1995

Chief, Weather Station Operations

21 ASOS | Fort Johnson, LA

Chief, Weather Station Operations..responsible for observing and forecasting operations in support of Joint Readiness Training Center. Assignments in my AFSC were Seymour Johnson AFB, NC; Nakhon Phanom, Thailand: Chanute AFB, IL (Instructor); Randolph AFB, TX; Ft. Polk, LA (first tour); Wiesbaden AAF, Germany; Ellsworth AFB, SD; Ft. Polk, LA (second tour). The standout moment of my career was providing direct weather support for the evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Saigon, South Vietnam. The idea that, even from a distance, you were helping to save lives was awesome. Most fun experience: TDY to Dare County Gunnery Range providing weather support to flight operations and watching planes and pilots do their job of bombing and strafing.

Deployments

(1 month)

Apr 1975

Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand

Provided direct weather support for the evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Operation Eagle Pull) and Saigon, South Viet Nam (Operation Frequent Wind).