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Here's a great article I found at www.northwestnavigator.com: -- The Yellow Jackets of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 138 and the rest of the Carrier Air Wing 9 (CVW-9) team have returned home from a recent three-week detachment off the coast of Southern California in which they participated with the crew of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) in their Tailored Ship’s Training Availability. TSTA is part of the John C. Stennis’ scheduled Fleet Readiness Training Plan in preparation for their coming deployment, and it was the first opportunity for CVW-9 to once again integrate themselves into the carrier strike group team. The Yellow Jackets’ at-sea period began with all cylinders firing. The Yellow Jackets successfully flew all three of its EA-6B aircraft aboard on the first day of carrier qualification and completed both day and night carrier qualification requirements for all five of its pilots that same day, a difficult feat to accomplish so quickly. This set the tone for the whole detachment, as the Yellow Jackets continued to impress the John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group. VAQ-138 flew a total of 65 sorties for a sortie completion rate of 96 percent.  “Ninety-six percent is an amazing feat, especially since this is the first time that we’ve been back on Stennis for a detachment like this,” remarked Lt. Cmdr. Carlos Medina.  Cmdr Kyle Higgins, VAQ-138 commanding officer, praised the squadron.  “It is a testament to the men and women of our maintenance department that we were able to achieve those numbers,” he said.  Along with numerous unit-level training missions, VAQ-138 participated in four long range, large force strikes to nearby China Lake, Calif., as well as two combat search and rescue events near San Clemente, Calif., in which two Yellow Jacket aircrew, Lt. Robert Reyes and Lt. James Dobbs, volunteered as CSAR survivors. “It was a good learning experience to put to use all the training that we as aircrew undergo if faced with that situation,” said Dobbs. More importantly, the Yellow Jackets were the first squadron in the air wing to achieve Training Mission Readiness Level 3, a requirement during the FRTP in order to be Emergency Surge Ready and deploy if required. Additionally, the Yellow Jackets managed to complete five Prowler Weapons and Tactics Program Level III syllabus events for four aircrew members who are aggressively seeking their Mission Commander Qualifications. “With this group of individuals, no task is too difficult,” said Higgins. The command will next travel to NAS Fallon, Nev. to conduct this integrated training.  http://www.northwestnavigator.com/index.php/navigator/regionalnews/yellow_jackets_successfully_complete_tsta/