I was grateful to get the opportunity to shoot so many Prowlers at NAS Whidbey on this trip. It won't be long before they are all retired. This close-up shows the smooth lines and four-seat cockpit of the front fuselage.
One of two Knighthawks based at NAS Whidbey for SAR duty, 758 displays a new over-all white paint job, while her sister remains in Navy gray...For now.
The view from the tower as 534 gets ready to roll out on an ACM training mission with a student crew on board. VFC-12 and VFC-204 were on-hand to play the "bad guys"
One of VAQ-129's Growlers sits on the flightline, down for long-term maintenance, while two others sit in the background. Notice the late afternoon fog rolling in off of the straight of Juan De Fuca.
VAQ-131's CAG bird sits on the ramp on Ault Field, NAS Whidbey Island as a line crew down-loads a CATM-88 HARM missile and up-loads a jamming pod with one of the squadron's line birds in the foreground.
A student crew from VAQ-129 goes through final checklists as they prepare for a training sortie at NAS Whidbey Island. VAQ-129 is the training squadron for both the EA-6B and EA-18G aircraft, and have both aiframes in inventory.
As the sun sets on the the EA-6B in the foreground, it rises on the EA-18G in the background on NAS Whidbey Island as the squadrons continue to transition from one to the other. (note the "stolen" rudder on the Prowler)
A Boeing employee does a quick check on a VAQ-129 EA-18G Growler at NAS Whidbey Island. VAQ-129 handles the training of all Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force pilots and ECMO's in both the EA-6B and EA-18G airframes.
Looking at part of VAQ-129's ramp from the tower, and understanding that there are EA-6B, EP-3E ARIES II, and EA-18G, as well as P-3C Orion airframes assigned here, it is easy to understand why NAS Whidbey is called "Home of Electronic Attack"