For two weeks in December 2009, Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nev. was completely inundated with naval electronic attack. The Air Force “Mission Employment” phase of training, a graduation exercise for their Weapons School, usually includes the Electronic Attack Weapons School (EAWS) as a player.

However, this last exercise also included Electronic Attack squadrons VAQ-131, VAQ-132, VAQ-137, and VAQ-138, flying different variants of the EA-6B and the new EA-18G. VX-9, the air test and evaluation squadron, was also on hand to lend their expertise.

“It was exciting to see all of the EA assets working together in one place,” said Lt. Cmdr. Philip Zarum. “We had aircrew flying both active variants of the EA-6B with their own range of capabilities, and we had the opportunity to integrate them with the capabilities of the EA-18G and everything we bring to the fight. I think we all learned a lot from the experience.”

Since VAQ-132 finished the transition to the Growler in September 2009, they have been on several detachments, including time spent at Naval Air Weapon Station China Lake, Calif., NAS Fallon, Nev., and Nellis AFB. Most of the flying time on those detachments was dedicated to building aircrew experience in the new aircraft, as well as developing procedures and tactics for future Growler squadrons to follow.

“Saturation of the electronic spectrum means there is very little that any warfighter can ignore,” said Lt. Kevin Cahill, VX-9’s EA-18G operational test director. “VAQ-132 will be taking the most advanced EA platform to the Fleet and executing their missions with ease after this rigorous exercise. The knowledge we have gained working with this squadron will aid in follow-on tests for the EA-18G.”

In the coming months VAQ-132 will stay busy with multiple detachments, including several more joint exercises. Cmdr. Scott Bunnay, commanding officer of VAQ-132, is confident that the squadron is coming together as a fully mission capable EA-18G squadron. 

“These large force exercises are giving our squadron, from the aircrew to our maintainers, the experience that we will need to become a combat effective unit capable of executing our Electronic Attack mission,” said Bunnay. “Helping EAWS and VX-9 also represents an investment in the future of our community, so we will continue to work with these agencies as well.”