Somehow the scene is just as you would imagine it: Studious looking sorts poring over graphs and charts, jotting down notes which could pass as KGB codes, and often talking in nigh unintelligible "technospeak''.

Occasionally a word or phrase will pop up like a disturbing echo from some geography lesson at school: Cumulonimbus, perhaps, or precipitation.

Close your eyes for a second, forget about this drab little room at the US Naval Air Station's weather station in St. David's, and you could almost be hearing an episode of Star Trek.

Commander Data to Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "Here is a typical entry for hail: GRB13E134...HLSTO...0.5.'' Not hard to imagine such an instruction being uttered on the famous TV series, is it? In fact, it belonged to the altogether more down-to-earth Mr. Tom Tews, a meteorologist instructor who is training crew members of a very different Starship Enterprise.

While his charges may not be preparing to explore other worlds, their mission is certainly to go boldly where no Bermudians have gone before. And to seek out a new employment frontier.

Mr. Derrick Burgess, Mr. Wayne Little, Mr. Chris Black, Mr. Alan Franklin, Mr.

Lyle Millett and Mr. Karl Pitman are being trained to become the first Bermudians to take over the weather station, more grandiosely titled the Naval Atlantic Meteorology and Oceanography Facility.

Five of them will assume that role once the US military forces pull out.

For those who think working at a weather station means little more than trudging out into the rain in your wellies, armed with a ruler, then think again.

It is not too far-fetched to say information recorded at this station could well be a matter of life or death.

Details about weather conditions are crucial to ships and aircraft coming to Bermuda.

With modern technology, information in Bermuda is sent to a computerised centre in the United States and fed across the world.

"A pilot in England, for example, will know what the conditions in Bermuda are like,'' said Mr. Don Parrish, project manager for Serco Aviation Services Inc., the Canadian contractor hired to run the Airport for the next five years.

"I have always tried to stress to those on the course the vital importance of the work they are being trained to do. Accuracy, of course, is essential.'' Mr. Parrish has obviously had some success in this area.

The Royal Gazette last week was invited to drop in on one of the training sessions, and the level of interest and motivation appeared extremely high. A camaraderie had already built up among the group.

It was only two weeks since the six students -- all twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings -- began their intensive course.

But they had progressed to the point of writing and talking a language baring little resemblance to English.

"It really is like learning a new language,'' explained Karl Pitman with a smile. "Just look at this.'' He pushed forward a sheet of blue paper containing a mindboggling series of symbols and characters.

"When I first saw something like this it might as well have been French, or for that matter Swahili. Now it makes a lot more sense.'' Serco meteorologist Mr. Leo O'Quinn pointed out the course was split into two sections: basic meteorology and practical weather observation.

Over 12 weeks, the six will learn about visibility, cloud types, water spouts, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and other weather systems.

They would also be taught how to make accurate readings, as well as distribute the information.

And with the course behind them, they could lay claim to being certified meteorological technicians.

"They are receiving the same standard of training they would get in any country anywhere,'' said Mr. O'Quinn.

The course will run until May 1, and then be followed by a month of on-the-job training.

From June 1, the station will be manned for the first time ever by an all-Bermudian team with no US personnel back-up.

When The Royal Gazette turned up, the six were learning how to log entries on charts known as "surface weather records''.

Such entries were being carefully recorded in a form of shorthand...such as the one for hail.

For Mr. Chris Black, handling such data comes fairly easily. After all, it is the type of information he came across while learning how to fly.

Mr. Black had been taking flying lessons in the US when the job at the weather station was advertised.

"I ran into a few difficulties such as money, so I could no longer continue the flying lessons,'' he explained.

"I saw the ad in the paper, and thought it would be a great opportunity for Bermuda, and a good opportunity to advance myself.'' Mr. Black added: "I don't plan to do it for the rest of my life, but perhaps for the next five years or so. It's a lot of fun.'' Fun, but also gruelling. After a two-week "breaking in period'', the six can expect to be pounded with information six hours a day, five days a week.

It is not a prospect which Lyle Millett finds particularly intimidating.

"I've always been interested in this kind of thing, even when I was very young,'' he said.

Mr. Millett is quitting his job with UPS to join the weather station crew.

He also applied for a crash and rescue job at the Base, but believed working at the station would be more fun. "It's something I enjoy and you also get to work with computers,'' he said.

So how are the six faring? Would Captain Picard be impressed with progress to date? "They are all doing extremely well,'' said Mr. Tews.

Mr. Parrish agreed. "They are very motivated, and have hit it off well as a group.'' The outlook thus far, you could say, is bright and sunny for the six Bermudians.

BRIGHT PROSPECTS -- Meteorologists Mr. Tom Tews and Mr. Leo O'Quinn (second and third from left) show Bermudian weather forecasting students how to read a weather map. Flanking them, from left to right, are Mr. Derrick Burgess, Mr.

Wayne Little, Mr. Chris Black, Mr. Lyle Millett, Mr. Karl Pitman and Mr. Alan Franklin.