It has been a busy two months for the VAQ-131. Keeping the Lancers vigilant have been a two-week at-sea sustainment period; Prowler community fuel-cell test detachment; HARM live-fire exercise; NATOPS unit evaluation; multiple cross-country flights supporting Prowler Weapons TP events and air shows; Prowler Week and increased training and readiness funds from the Navy’s Fleet Response Plan.

To maintain the squadron’s surge capability, the Lancers participated in Strike Group Sustainment Training off the Southern California coast during the first weeks of June. Aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), the squadron executed large force exercises for 12 consecutive days, totaling over 150 flight hours and 71 sorties. On “surge days,” up to 10 Prowler sorties catapulted off the bow, a challenging task for Lancer maintenance because of the stress of carrier landings on an aging airframe.

During the large force exercises, the Lancers, along with Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2), defended against simulated attacks and performed strikes against heavily-defended targets in the China Lake weapons complex.

VAQ-131 Maintenance Material Control Officer Lt. Tim Smith commented, “I’m proud to see our young Sailors work miracles getting mission-capable jets launched every cycle. The stress of this two-week det was outstanding for both the aircrew and the maintenance team.”

But there was no rest for Team Lancer. In a true test of their Sailor’s flexibility and dedication, the squadron sent two concurrent detachments to opposite ends of the country within three days of returning from Lincoln.

The first det was a High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile live fire exercise near Pt. Mugu, Calif. Prowlers from VAQ-131 and VAQ-134 and F/A-18s from CVW-2 scored direct hits with five simultaneously launched HARM against a floating target barge in the Pacific Ocean.

“It was a team effort,” noted Lt. Cmdr. Mike MacNicholl. “Getting everyone together, maintenance and aircrew, from different squadrons, from different airfields, requires a lot of time and coordination. But when you see the missile fly off the rail, it’s all worth it.”

Next, San Antonio

While some Lancers were launching HARM down range in Southern California, another detachment was dispatched to San Antonio, Texas, for a community fuel cell over-pressure test. In-flight, the EA-6B is refueled from airborne tankers under positive pressure. When too much pressure is applied, the fuselage fuel tank expands beyond its design limits and “buckles.”

Buckling from over pressurization can damage the main fuel cell, flight controls and structural beams and render the aircraft unusable. In Texas, Lancer maintenance personnel, in conjunction with the Air Force and Naval Air Systems Command, simulated aerial refueling conditions on the ground, monitored by precision diagnostic equipment. In an attempt to prevent future fuel cell over-pressures, Skybolt 503 was fueled and de-fueled more than 75 times to gather test data on conditions that may have caused recent fuel cell buckles.

NATOPS Eval

The Lancers finished June with the annual Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization Unit Evaluation. This assesses a squadron’s NATOPS program and ensures it meets the standards set by model manager, VAQ-129. The unit evaluation lasted three days and included written tests, simulators and flights.

Emergency procedures test were administered to both aircrew and the maintenance personnel. These procedures are accomplished expeditiously in the event of jet malfunction, and if delayed or incorrectly applied, could result in injury, loss of the life or aircraft. The fleet replacement squadron NATOPS instructors ran maintainers and aircrew through rigorous simulators to test their NATOPS and emergency procedure knowledge.

“The simulator provides safe, realistic emergency training scenarios for tasks that are time critical in the air,” said Lt. Brian Murphy, a VAQ-131 NATOPS instructor. “On the ground, we can practice these scenarios so that when we do have an airborne emergency, cooler heads will prevail. And, it’s a great tool to evaluate aircrew.”

July brought Prowler Week where the Lancers took part in many outdoor competitions, including water-skiing, golf and the 5k run.

Prowler Awards

CVWP Awards Quarters held on July 22 resulted in several community-wide awards for select Lancers. We are proud of our Sailors bringing home hardware as community leadership and technical expertise winners: former Lancer Commanding Officer, Cmdr Mike Coury awarded the Senior Leadership Award; Lt. Mike Lisa awarded the Seadog Fodor Junior Officer Leadership Award; Lt. Kate McMahon awarded the Fleet Replacement Squadron Student Electronic Countermeasures Officer of the Year Award;

Senior Chief Aviation Machinist Mate Jay Shannon awarded the Enlisted Leadership Award; and Dispersing Clerk First Class Kourtney Salt awarded the Enlisted Administration Award.

Not ones to rest on their laurels, the VAQ-131 Lancers continue to build on the previous two months successes to remain vigilant and ready to deploy.