Im looking to dispell a comment made by a coworker of mine in which he claimed the USAF was operating either retired NAVY/MARINE A-6’s or EA-6’s. I told him he was full of the stuff that comes out our 4th point of contact but I figured I’d look into it before I eat my words… any one have any knowledge on this subject?
To my knowledge, and according to the USAF plane roster, there are no A-6 or EA-6B units in operation with the USAF, nor have there been at any time, unless it was an un-publicized test program, which I highly doubt. The Intruders were officially retired in 1997, but there is no date set for the Prowlers.
Hope this clears some of it up for you and your coworker.
demono69
On USAF and Prowlers-
The USAF does not technically operate Prowlers. There are 6 “expeditionary” EA-6B squadrons, administratively “owned” by Commander, Electronic Attack Wing, US Pacific Fleet (aka COMVAQWINGPAC or CVWP) and wearing the tailcode NL. These squadrons deployed to places like PSAB, Saudi Arabia and Incrilick, Turkey and operated alongside USAF expeditionary wing.
While these squadrons are wholly owned by the navy, until recently the USAF did contribute funding to their operation and still sends aircrew to round out the squadrons. The ready rooms are slightly less than half air force.
Question now is what to do with these squadrons - the USAF funding has dried up, there is no more Northern Watch or Southern Watch… those of us honest-to-goodness fleet Prowler guys humbly suggest disbanding them and distributing their planes among the carrier squadrons… [}:)]
I stand corrected. Thank you, Karl, for the clarification.
demono69
these aircraft “administrativly operated” by the USAF… Im guessing they still were Naval Markings?
Clarification. They are operated by the Navy, with the augmentation of some AIr Force crews (EF-111 folks - those that are still around that is, B-1 defensive system folks, EC-130 folks, F-15E WSOs, even the odd F-16 and A-10 pilot - and yes they still have to CQ.) But the squadrons are commanded by Navy O-5s, report to a navy type wing and yes it says NAVY on the side.
If it helps, think of it this way - the Air Force “hires” them from the Navy to support their expeditionary wings… in essence, after retiring the EF-111, the USAF “outsourced” its tactical electronic warfare. USAF aircrew have rotated through over the past 7 years or so in order to help meet the manning requirements, and to keep some electronic attack “corporate knowlege” in the air force.
Just a side note, the Prowler is set to be replaced soon by the F/A-18G “Growler”.
Yeah, and as we all know, the F/A-18G will be less effective and more expensive. But that’s just the price we pay for having a bean counter for our secretary of defense, huh? It’s MacNamera all over again!! EA-6Bs forever! And yes, I believe we need to bring back the intruder! I think the abysmal record of the F-18(I refuse to think of it as a Ground Attack aircraft!) proves the need for a dedicated Strike/Ground Attack aircraft!! INTRUDERS FOREVER!!!
As for them being operated by the USAF…
They were considered for a while, they were even flown for a little while for tests and evaluation, but the USAF decided against it.(For reasons I’ve yet to understand)
Things can get mixed up once in a while. My first squadron tour in the Navy was
at Tachikawa AFB, Japan. We were flying C-121’s (Super Connies) in Air Force
markings. Nothing sneaky—we were the Navy part of MATS. My next squadron
was a “special missions” type of unit and we had a couple of crews that were Navy in the cockpit and Army in the back end.
An interesting thing about the A-6 is that it is one of the few US aircraft that none of our allies flew—only our Navy and Marine Corps. (as far as I know)
Ray
As a side note to the side note, the EA-18G will NOT be called Growler. The Prowler junior aircrew’s aversion to that name became so well known that it made the Navy Times (and lest anyone think WE’RE immature, even the Navy Times picked up on the “other” meaning of Growler).
Word on the street is that the name favored to replace “Growler” is “Griffin” - which has a cool ring to it, could lead to some cool artwork, and is already incorporated in the Electronic Attack Weapons School logo.
I agree with the above mentoined for their services; BUT, two A-6E’s and one EA-6B, in 1983 were decored in CANADIAN markings. This was a presumptious move by Grumman. As this was in the test and evaluation phase prior to the decision to purchase the F-18’s. There are some pics out there.
If anyone finds the pics I’d love to see them… THAT would sure spice up the display shelf!! 