High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (AFRC), also known by its nickname, Hurricane Hunters, is a flying unit of the United States Air Force, and "the only Department of Defense organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes." Aligned under the 403d Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and based at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, it flies aircraft into tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean for the specific purpose of directly measuring weather data in and around those storms. The 53 WRS currently operates the Lockheed WC-130J aircraft as its weather data collection platform.