NAVMC 3500.38D — Meteorological And Oceanographic Training And Readiness Manual

NAVMC 3500.38D governs revised standards, regulations, and policy for training METOC personnel.

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  • Publication number: NAVMC 3500.38D
  • Title: METEOROLOGICAL AND OCEANOGRAPHIC TRAINING AND READINESS MANUAL
  • Date: 21 Oct 2021
  • Proponent: 03000 Operations & Readiness
  • Status: Current

View NAVMC 3500.38D on armypubs.army.mil


NAVMC 3500.38D establishes Marine aviation training and readiness requirements, including mission skills, combat leadership, and unit capabilities. It addresses meteorological concepts, observations, satellite and radar products, chart analysis, and weather forecasting techniques, with specified performance standards for training events.

Applies to: This Manual is applicable to the Marine Corps Total Force .

Topics covered

  • METOC training and readiness requirements
  • Meteorological concepts
  • METAR observations
  • Satellite imagery interpretation
  • Weather radar products
  • Chart analysis
  • Weather forecasting techniques
  • Atmospheric physics

Questions and answers

What does NAVMC 3500.38D require for atmospheric dynamics training?

Describe fundamentals of: 1. Newton's three laws of motion. 2. Buys Ballot's Law. 3. Forces affecting parcel movement. 4. Momentum and winds. 5. Vorticity. 6. Dynamic processes. 7. Principles of global circulation. 8. Three cell model - Northern Hemisphere. 9. Jet streams. (paragraph 4)

What features must be identified when analyzing radar products?

Utilizing live or archived base radar products, identify the following features: 1. Base reflectivity: a. Precipitation. b. Thunderstorms. c. Outflow boundaries. 2. Base velocity: a. Convergence and divergence. b. Cyclonic and anti-cyclonic rotation. 3. Base spectrum width products: a. Significant motion. b. Turbulence. (paragraph 7)

What is required for METAR observation encoding?

Given a scenario, perform the following functions: 1. State general information. 2. Identify service specific information. 3. Identify form entries. 4. State required entries on every METAR observation. 5. Properly encode a METAR observations. (paragraph 3)

What performance standard applies to METAR observation encoding?

Given applicable regulations and an observation scenario, encode three METAR observations. (paragraph 5)

What is required to prepare a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast?

Perform the following functions: 1. Describe Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) code. 2. Complete TAF worksheet. (paragraph 3)

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