AG1 DEREK CONKLIN
Hi, I’m Derek.
I’m a United States Navy Aerographer’s Mate First Class focused on meteorology and oceanography, an unmanned-systems advocate, and the operational half of a partnership that builds practical tools for Sailors.
PET PROJECT
Weather Woobie
WeatherWoobie.com is where I’m working to make meteorology and oceanography easier to approach: study tools, guided practice, and plain-language explanations that connect what the atmosphere and ocean are doing to how people actually use the information.
The larger goal is practical understanding — helping a learner move from reading an observation or forecast to recognizing what matters, asking better questions, and making sound decisions without hiding the science behind a black box.
THE SITES
Pick a subject and dig in.
Specialized learning for Information Warfare Officers and Enlisted Information Warfare Specialists, plus practical references for Sailors.
SPECIALIZED LEARNING
Information Warfare
GUIDES & REFERENCES
Navy
PLAIN-LANGUAGE EXPLAINERS
AI & Machine Learning
PROFESSIONAL
Background and recent work.
As an Aerographer’s Mate First Class (AG1), my primary work is meteorology and oceanography (METOC): understanding the environment, communicating its operational effects, and helping the warfighter use that information. My path through these operational assignments began at the Naval Oceanography Mine Warfare Center, where I supported multiple deployments to Bahrain and exercises in Alaska.
I then served with Fleet Weather Center Norfolk’s Aviation Detachment in Germany, providing aviation support and resource protection. I’m now at Strike Group Oceanography Team Norfolk (SGOT Norfolk), where I maintain deployment proficiency, have deployed aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), and am working with the Pre-Commissioning Unit John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) team as the ship prepares for commissioning.
My educational background is in unmanned systems, a field I see becoming central to how the Navy senses, understands, and operates in the environment. I’m also a contractor with h bar LLC, the environmental consulting agency I co-own with Sean, David, and Taylor. Across that work, Weather Woobie, and the sites Sean and I build together, my responsibility is to bring an operational mindset to the science: what the warfighter actually needs, and how we train and equip people with the right tools. I’m especially interested in applying artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) to forecasting and to teaching the Information Warfare community.
Service and work
- Naval Oceanography Mine Warfare Center · Deployments to Bahrain and exercises in Alaska
- Fleet Weather Center Norfolk · Aviation support and resource protection in Germany
- Strike Group Oceanography Team Norfolk · USS Gerald R. Ford deployment and PCU John F. Kennedy commissioning preparation
- h bar LLC · Environmental consulting contractor and co-owner
Focus areas
- METOC · Meteorology, oceanography, forecasting, and operational effects
- Unmanned systems · A growing field for environmental sensing and mission support
- AI/ML · Better forecasting and better ways to teach Information Warfare
- Operational science · Training and tools built around warfighter needs
PERSONAL
Outside work.
Alaska is home. The best days are out hiking in the mountains with my family and my boys. The landscape keeps me grounded no matter where work or travel takes me.
Music is the through-line. I love electronic dance music, going to shows with the guys, and traveling around the world — especially when a trip can bring good friends, a new place, and a great set together.