Hello to all my fellow members of Tailhook! Let me say something about this year’s Hook reunion in Reno … WOW! I truly thank and commend the superb work done by the Tailhook Association staff and the many volunteers who worked very hard to make this event a success. Your hard work was noticed and distinctly appreciated … everything from the ease of registration, to the camaraderie at the Bug Roach mixer and the wonderful dinner on Saturday night that included a great speech by our own ADM Pat “Sponge” Walsh. If you have never been to a Tailhook reunion, I strongly encourage you to attend; it is a wonderful chance to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, as well as get the latest Naval Aviation gouge. Again, many thanks and well done to all the organizers that made Hook ’09 such a success. I am already looking forward to Hook ’10 next September!
I would like to discuss the new developments in our all-important airborne electronic attack (AEA) community. There are not enough words to describe how vitally necessary this capability is to our Joint and Allied forces on the battlefield. VAQ-129 is training flight crews in both Prowlers and Growlers, and VAQ-132 fully stood up as the first operational Growler squadron in September 2009. Congratulations Scorpions and welcome to the Hornet community. Coincidently, in 1971, VAQ-132 was the first squadron to man up the EA-6B and take it into combat in the skies over North Vietnam. Both VAQ-141 and VAQ-138 are also well along on their transition to the Growler and will be full-up rounds in 2010.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the development of the Growler — it is essentially a lot XXX F/A-18F optimized for the AEA mission. As referenced, the mighty Prowler has been performing military service since the early 1970s (and even earlier for the EA-6A). A replacement is long overdue. Even with avionics modernization and the Improved Capability (ICAP) III electronic warfare upgrade, the Prowler is an old airframe that requires significant maintenance to keep flying. Fortunately, our hard-working Prowler maintenance crews are doing an absolutely superb job in keeping those national assets in the air … and our AEA capability is a national asset. AEA are the epitome of the term “high demand/low-density.”
Aircraft and flight crews are in demand all over the world, both in the air and on the ground to counter improvised explosive device (IED) issues. While shutting down modern and Integrated Air Defense Systems will continue to be an important focus, the current daily mission is ground-force support: taking out IEDs and jamming the enemy’s communications. This AEA close air support to the Army and Marine forces has become the bread and butter of the AEA community, and they have performed magnificently conducting this vital mission in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The work since 9/11 has saved uncounted lives of Americans, Allies and Coalition partners. In addition to squadron assignments afloat and ashore, the AEA community has been heavily tasked on the personnel side providing folks to work the counter-IED threat as boots on the ground. Hundreds of those dedicated men and women have served in the combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan while using their electronic warfare skills to keep the areas clear of IEDs. Again, my hat is off to all the folks of AEA, they are doing all they can to keep the enemy on the run.
The EA-18G has been a model program that consistently has been on cost and on schedule, thanks to the teamwork of our Hornet and Prowler communities and our industry partners at the Boeing Co. In fact, the Growler achieved first flight in August 2006 — one month ahead of schedule. The EA-18G design maximizes commonality with F/A-18E/F. The design will reduce fleet support costs and logistics requirements both afloat and ashore due to this high degree of commonality among the Hornet family. The capabilities of the Growler include an expanded EA-6B ICAP III functionality with the ALQ-99 jammer pod, the ALQ-218 radar receiver, the ALQ-227 communications receiver and a satellite communications capability. The Growler also will have the capability to launch High-speed Anti-Radiation and Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles and the AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile. Current procurement plans are set for 88 Growlers to outfit 10 fleet squadrons as well as the Fleet Readiness Squadron, test communities and some pipeline units. We anticipate that our transition to EA-18Gs will be complete by 2013.
In closing, again, my heartfelt thanks to the good folks at the Tailhook Association who worked so hard to make the reunion an outstanding event. Keep up the great work, and I look forward to Hook ’10. Take care and keep the ball centered!