Posted on 11/16/2018 7:06:06 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
The final operational chapter of the Prowler career has just been written by the U.S. Marine Corps “Death Jesters” and their six EA-6Bs jets. Marine Corps Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron-2 (VMAQ-2) “Death Jesters”, the last of four Marine Prowler squadrons, has just completed its final deployment in Qatar, with the last six EA-6B in the U.S. military inventory.
Four aircraft, using radio callsign “Trend 01-04” landed at Lajes, Azores, on their way back to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, from Al Udeid, Qatar, on Nov. 12, 2018. The remaining two aircraft would follow in a couple of days (they were left behind due to technical issues).
The first pair (“Trend 01-02”) was supported by “Blue 52”, an Air Force Reserve KC-135R operated by the 916 Aerospace Refuelling Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, that also landed at Lajes.
Interestingly, one of the aircraft, 163047/CY-05, sported “Agent 007” markings inside the split trailing edge air brakes as the following image shows:
EA-6B 163047/CY-05 with 007 markings landing at Lajes field.
The EA-6B was born out of military requirements during the Vietnam War. It entered service in 1971 and 170 aircraft were produced before the production was terminated in 1991. For more than four decades, the Prowler has been “at the forefront of military electronic warfare allowing high-profile air combat missions.”
During the last deployment the aircraft have supported Operation Resolute Support and Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan as well as Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. The primary mission of the aircraft was to support ground-attack strikes by disrupting enemy electromagnetic activity and, as a secondary mission, to gather tactical electronic intelligence within a combat zone, and, if necessary, attacking enemy radar sites with HARM missiles.
Despite their age, the EA-6Bs have been among the most important assets in the air war against Daesh: they eavesdropped “enemy” radio signals and jammed those frequencies in order to prevent terrorists from talking one another on the radio or cell phone, or use portable transmitters to trigger IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices).
Actually, rather than the obsolescence of the onboard EW (Electronic Warfare) sensors, the main issue that has affected the Prowler fleet what has been keeping the legacy aircraft in the air.
“It’s not an easy airplane to work on. Nowadays, components tell you they need to be replaced, skilled troubleshooting doesn’t exactly exist the way that it used to and working on this plane is very much a different skill,” Lt. Col. Andrew A. Rundle, VMAQ-2 commanding officer, said in a recent release.“You could think you know what is wrong with it and you fix what you think is wrong only to find it had nothing to do with what was wrong and it didn’t help or fix anything,” explained Gunnery Sgt. Kevin Randall, VMAQ-2 maintenance control chief. “You could troubleshoot for days in the wrong direction, but because it is an old airplane there are lots of wires and things that don’t even go to things anymore and through updates and upgrades there are things that cause problems that you never would have thought. Changes that were made 10 or 15 years ago have surfaced and reared their head.”
Marines deployed with Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2 pose for a group photo on the ramp at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Aug. 16, 2018. Marines with VMAQ-2 are taking part in the final EA-6B Prowler deployment before the final six aircraft in the U.S. military inventory are retired. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jose Diaz/Released)
On the maintenance front, Randall acknowledged some challenges with those who have come to the EA-6B in recent years with the aircraft’s sunset on the horizon.
“Almost every air mission that people have heard about since the 1970s likely involved a Prowler in some way and we don’t talk about it,” said Randall. “I think that’s the cool thing we all know in the back of our heads. The public reads that bombing missions happened here or we got so and so or completed this mission and you read about the flashier airplanes such as the B-1s, the F-18s, the stealth fighters that took off from wherever, but you never read about the Prowler that had to be in the area days prior or had to be around the area to complete its mission to allow the bigger mission to happen.”
The U.S. Navy retired their Prowler fleet in 2015, shifting the EA (Electronic Attack) workload to the EA-18G Growler. The Death Jesters will retire the EA-6B Prowler in 2019, the second-to-last U.S. Prowler Squadron, the VMAQ-3 Moon Dogs, was deactivated last spring.
All images courtesy APS – Associação Portugal Spotters (Portuguese Spotters Association) unless otherwise stated.
I finished up my last year of High School at Oak Harbor High School in 1971. The Prowlers were loud; the EA-18G Growlers are significantly louder.
I remember that.What a waste.
I was at Whidbey Island NAS toward the end of ‘71 taking some classes for the A-6. That was a very dangerous plane to work on. It often didn’t have hydraulics and it was very dangerous to slide the enormous canopy back and the cockpit was huge. The screech of the fan blades was what made it so noisy. After training on the A-6 (VMAT(AW)-202), I was promptly put on f-4s. More training, lol. I truly loved working on them. I’m sure I woke up guys in the tower (Cherry Point) many times at night singing out requesting a radio check.
Amazing aircraft. The crews took a lot of heat at the bar that they were flying the aircraft backwards.
What squadron were you assigned to?
I listed it for the A-6 in my comment. My F-4 squadron was VMFAT-201.
But they have the “quiet” ones now!
I grew up with the B 52’s coming out of there day and night. I would say you get used to the noise, but you don’t. When a C5 comes over the office, I still stop a look. How they get those things in the air is beyond me.
Had I still been at Lajes, I would have briefed the crews on their flight to Cherry Point.
I remember briefing some Hornets who were going from Lajes to MCAS Miramar, nonstop. That was some fun times back in the ‘90s
VMAQ-2 used to be called the Playboys, with a Playboy bunny as their logo. Guess that wasn’t PC enough.
Cool, thanks! PI ‘89. not Air Wing. 8~)
You’re welcome Brother. Semper Fi and happy belated birthday!
Thank you all. the education I get from these types of threads is amazing.
Can’t get this type of info out of a book.
FR seems to have a lot of Marines and Navy as members.
Thanks again.
True, but then the USAF would still call on jammer assets to accompany stealth strike packages. I suppose that would just be an extra layer of insurance for the F-117’s going down-town. After the retirement of the ‘Spark-Vark’ the Prowler was the only game in town. They became a joint operational asset to be used by the USAF/Navy/Marines.
... Meant to say “Growler” not “Prowler”.
Oh my. Thanks.
Amazing plane with amazing capabilities. The Prowler, and it’s successor the Growler, may not be as famous as some other jets - but they are true legends.
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