TEC meteorologist helps Boy Scouts earn Weather Merit Badge

Published March 27, 2012

March 27, 2012

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. –  So far this year, winter weather-like conditions in the Alexandria area have been minimal compared to the back-to-back blizzards the area experienced last year.  At that time, cars clogged the streets in foot-high snow.  Later in the year, torrential rains blanketed the area, flooding roads and preventing some ERDC-TEC members from leaving work.  The devastating rains resulted in the deaths of two people, neither from TEC.  Property damage reports were high and relocation became necessary for many.

Many local meteorologists predicted the weather conditions in advance.   But, none could have predicted the outcome of the weather.  This is the primary focus of ERDC-TEC Meteorologist John Neander’s instructions to 11 members of Boy Scout Troops of the Tri-State Area Council of the Boy Scouts.  His instructions helped the Scouts earn the Weather Merit Badge in the Science Application Category.

“My goal is to make the Scouts aware of the dangers of weather.  Predicting the weather is not the primary goal of what I’m teaching them,” Neander said.  “There are plenty of weather forecasters who can do that.”  Neander has conducted the weather portion of the Boy Scout Merit Badge program for more than 20 years.

“I think the biggest horror point for the Scouts, other than listening to me for three straight days, is possibly the fourth and fifth days of instruction,” Neander said.

Scouts are required to give a five-minute presentation on whether or not they want to become meteorologists.  “I’ve conducted classes where one Scout wanted a career in meteorology, and I’ve had classes where seven of the 12 Scouts wanted a career as a meteorologist.”

According to Neander, the purpose of the presentation is not just weather-related instruction.  “I want the Scouts to know that sooner or later in life they are going to be required to give a public presentation.  They might as well give the presentation in front of their peers, in a friendly environment and get over the shock of public speaking,” he said.  Neander was formerly a frequent speaker with the Fredrick County Education Department science project groups and a member of the Fort Belvoir Speakers Bureau specializing in meteorology and climatology.

Neander earned a bachelor’s in atmospheric sciences from State University of New York at Albany.  He served as an Air Force weather officer for 12 years, a meteorologist and systems programmer for 12 years and a senior systems programmer for three years, both in private industry.  He then joined the Civilian Air Force staff as a senior systems analyst and spent a year at Andrews Air Force Base, before joining the Civilian Army staff at Fort Belvoir, as a meteorologist.  While with TEC’s predecessor the Engineer Topographic Laboratories, he studied the possible effects of global warming on long-term crop movement.  Finally, Neander completed 10 years of reserve service as a U.S. Navy weather officer, before retiring from active military service with more than 22 years of combined weather forecasting service.

Each year, the annual Boy Scout Jamboree attracts thousands of Scouts in the summer to Fort A.P. Hill, Va.  In past years, several weather-related deaths have occurred due to severe thunderstorms, high winds, and blistering heat and high humidity.

“I think of myself as the local weather expert for the Scouts.  If what I teach them can save one child from a dangerous situation because he remembers what I said about cloud structures, or the possible negative consequences of ‘green clouds’, or the way lightening normally strikes, then I’ve done something positive,” Neander said.