The VAQ-130 Zappers are the proud winners of the Spring 2005 COMVAQWINGPAC Tactical Exercise.

Capt. Robert Field, Commander COMVAQWINGPAC, announced on June 21 that the Zappers had beaten the competition of four other squadrons to become “Prowler TACEX King of the Hill.”

A crew of Lt.j.g. Ian Hudson and Lt.j.g. Sarah Higgins in the front cockpit, and Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Commerford and Lt. John Huggins in the back, flew two low levels and simulated a strike on enemy territory.

“The winner was determined by objectively measuring a number of factors: jamming effectiveness, electronic surveillance threat reporting, and High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) shot timing,” said Lt. Dave Harris, TACEX coordinator. “Additionally, Electronic Attack Weapons School (EAWS) instructors graded each mission brief to determine a winner in the event of a tie.”

After a few minutes of jamming and threat reporting, the Zapper crew was forced to abandon their briefed plan when another aircraft entered the working area. The Air Traffic Controller told the Zappers to fly a heading that would completely take them out of the TACEX game plan.

Despite this, the crew was able to get their HARM shot off on time and continue their jamming and threat reporting.

Maintenance was also an integral part of the win. Without a quality jet and groomed weapon system, the crew could not have done their job.

The TACEX program originally was a competition for the A-6 Intruder and EA-6B Prowler communities. The contest was quite in-depth, grading participants on timing at each point on a low level, on their bombing runs and on their practice emergency landings by Landing Signal Officers. Competition was held annually during Intruder Week festivities.

It is the hope of EAWS that the rebirth of the TACEX contest will foster esprit de corps and standardization within the Prowler community. Eventually, the competition may be used as a component of choosing the Battle Efficiency Award winner.