ELECTONIC ATTACK SQUADRON 129 MILITARY
Describing the maintenance department’s
operations CPO Hawver said there are a lot
of moving parts and a lot of people, “all of
whom have different needs and peers, but
need to be provided, so the junior ratings can
perform at their maximum ability”.
Squadron detachments also complicate
the maintenance department’s burden,
because it has to support flight schedules
at multiple locations, Whidbey and
sometimes two other bases, and maintain
training of the junior ratings who are
generally not sent on detachments. Each
work centre has a leading petty officer
responsible for making sure qualifications
and manpower are distributed to support
the mission at multiple locations.
CPO Hawver said: “[It is challenging]
because eventually the 50 people assigned
to a work centre drops by ten with each
detachment on the road, meaning we have
to ensure we can still operate at Whidbey
with the people remaining. Overcoming
the challenge is all about splitting up
qualifications efficiently.
“The goal is to get the junior ratings
qualified, because sending somebody that is
not qualified is less than ideal. We train them
at Whidbey and try to use a forthcoming
detachment as a reward, because they get
to go somewhere unfamiliar and work in a
faster pace environment, which tends to be
fun, because detachments are manned by a
small crew.”
CPO Hawver said carrier qualification
detachments require all squadron people
who have to work on the flight deck to
achieve a familiarisation qualification:
“Our junior ratings who need to complete
flight deck qualifications must go to
the carrier to complete ship-borne
qualification. That usually takes about a
day or day-and-a-half to complete. Once
the junior people understand and know
what they’re doing, they qualify quickly
and can then do it for real.”
CPO Hawver explained some of the
preparations given to the enlisted maintainers
bound for the carrier: “If I’m in charge of the
detachment, I brief them about working two
ten-hour shifts for the duration of the boat
cycle, so they are aware ahead of time. If they
are new we send them up to the crow’s nest,
so they can watch flight deck operations
as they see the different aircraft movement
paths, so they understand where it is safer to
walk and move around the flight deck before
they actually go on the flight deck and pair up
with an experienced person.”Australia
Air Combat Officer is not a job title in the US
Navy, but for the last three years, officers with
that very position have occupied spaces on
VAQ-129 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island,
and continue to. Their homeland is Australia.
Squadron Leader Richard Drum is one
such Australian currently at VAQ-129 on
the EA-18G Growler conversion course
as a student EWO. He qualified as a
navigator with the Royal Australian Air
Force (RAAF) and served on the F-111
squadrons based at RAAF Base Amberley
specialising in electronic warfare. Once
the F-111 was withdrawn from RAAFAn aircraft handler directs a VAQ-129 EA-18G Growler to catapult 1 on the flight deck of USS George
Washington (CVN 73). Petty Officer Clemente Lynch/US Navy
An EA-18G Growler prepares for launch from USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). Mass Communication
Specialist Anthony J. Rivera/US Navy