ATLANTIC OCEAN — The Navy’s Fleet Experimentation Program (FLEX), featuring unmanned aerial and surface vehicles, was held on the Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport vessel USNS Burlington (T-EPF-10) in the waters around Key West, Fla. Oct. 16-21, 2022, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet Public Affairs said in a Nov. 3 release. 
 
Organized by U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet, and the Office of Naval Research’s (ONR) sponsored SCOUT initiative, the goal of FLEX was to test, evaluate and showcase the latest unmanned vehicles to strengthen and increase warfighter capabilities. 
 
The purpose of this event is to bring new technology to address operational problems in the fleet,” said Christopher Heagney, the Naval Air Fleet and Force advisor to U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet and ONR. “Manned systems have an operational penalty of having people. The operational commander is assuming a high risk when there is a person who can be captured or killed. By having an unmanned system we are able to eliminate that.” 
 
Heagney said Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-South) only has a limited number of assets to interdict illicit trafficking in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. If those assets break, they lose valuable time going back to port, getting repair parts and returning. Unmanned platforms could present a solution by transporting those parts to where they need to be at sea. 
 
ONR’s SCOUT initiative is an ongoing, multi-agency experimentation campaign for identifying alternative ways to bring unmanned technologies to solve warfighter problems, operationalize them and bring them to the Fleet. SCOUT is committed to getting nontraditional, commercial-off-the-shelf, government-developed and/or government-sponsored technologies to the fleet rapidly. 
 
The Key West FLEX employed commercially developed unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and unmanned surface vehicles (USV) to carry out diverse tasks related to drug interdiction including tracking and identifying specific targets, logistics and re-supply and forward-deployed combat repair. The unmanned vehicles performed re-supply maneuvers in the ocean and at inland and coastal locations. 
 
Industry leaders agree that the ultimate goal is to lessen the danger to warfighters through the use of unmanned systems and thus enhancing their capabilities. One day these technologies such as delivery of equipment and parts, fuel, provisions and medical supplies can be vital to mission safety and success of warfighters operating in austere conditions. 
 
“FLEX is an important and productive partnership between 4th Fleet, Center for Naval Analysis and the Office of Naval Research as well as industry partners to implement solutions to pressing operational problems,” said Rear Adm. Doug Sasse, 4th Fleet’s reserve vice commander. “Efficient flow of logistics in a contested environment is going to be a key enabler to the Navy and Marine Corps operating concepts of distributed maritime operations (DMO) and expeditionary advance-based operations (EABO), and a lot of the technology that we have incorporated as part of FLEX will help DMO and EABO reach full potential.” 
 
ONR SCOUT, Fourth Fleet and JIATF-South worked alongside other commands including the Naval Research Laboratory, Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, Defense Innovation Unit and Naval Air Systems Command. ONR sponsored Scientists-to-Sea went underway with Burlington to see the technology firsthand.    
 
“This year is quite exciting as we have been building on previous events to improve our capabilities at sea, leveraging unmanned assets in order to do what we want, and do it out at sea,” said Capt. Chip Wrye, the director of the Maritime Operations Center. “Specifically, this week we have been figuring out how to move packages between ships that are each individually moving, and do it in a way that the unmanned asset can find the receiving ship, and transfer its package to that ship without putting personnel in harm’s way.” 
 
“FLEX and the ONR SCOUT collaboration event was a great opportunity to see the mission readiness of industrial capabilities to mitigate logistical support challenges to deep-sea operations, which drive Navy and Coast Guard ship day availability to JIATF-South,” said Jeffrey Havlicek, J7 director for Innovation and Technology, JIATF-South. “This event showcased a menu of options and generated comparative insights vital to our mission-area analysis of low-cost resupply at sea.” 
 
The Key West FLEX event was the culmination of multiple scenario-based demonstrations of technology capabilities and characteristics held this year leading up to a large-scale main experimentation event in March 2023. 
 
U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet supports U.S. Southern Command’s joint and combined military operations by employing maritime forces in cooperative maritime security operations to maintain access, enhance interoperability, and build enduring partnerships in order to enhance regional security and promote peace, stability and prosperity in the Caribbean, Central and South American region. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy’s submarine force has taken major strides at integrating women into the submarine fleet, which will be key to building the most “talented, capable force” possible, the commander of submarine forces told attendees of the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium here Nov. 1. 
 
Vice Adm. William Houston highlighted recent advancements women have made in the submarine fleet, such as the first female “chief of the boat” on the ballistic-missile submarine USS Louisiana (SSBN 743). 
 
“And female XOs [executive officers] and commanding officers are not restricted where they can go,” Houston said. “We are working to integrate the submarine force faster.” 
 
Houston said that in many cases women are retained at a higher rate than male officers, and that opening the door to more women in the fleet would help the Navy attract the talent that it needs at a time when retention is a challenge throughout the service. 
 
“We want the most talented, capable force and we need to remove any barriers to integration,” he said. “It is absolutely critical that we do that.” 
 
Houston highlighted other personnel priorities for the fleet, including a growing emphasis on the “cyber workforce.” 

“We have now established a cyber watch pilot where we actually have personnel watching our cyber systems underway, and we’re looking to roll that out to the entire fleet,” he said. “We have integrated more than we have with the IW [irregular warfare] community. … We have cryptological technicians leading some of our EW [electronic warfare] efforts on those ships.” 

Houston said the Navy would need to be bold in leveraging expertise throughout the service. 

“We are not afraid to integrate with non-submarine communities,” he said. “We have tremendous capabilities in the Navy that we are taking advantage of because we need to do that to prepare for combat.” 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy is planning to extend the service lives of up to five Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to help cover a projected shortfall in the 2030s as aging subs retire faster than newly built Columbia-class submarines can replace them, a service official told attendees of the Naval Submarine League’s annual symposium here on Nov. 1. 
 
Rear Adm. Scott W. Pappano, strategic submarines program executive officer, said that the Navy will see its fleet of SSBNs dwindle from 14 today to 10 or 11 sometime in the 2030s. Because the Navy requirement is for 10 operational submarines at all times, that situation leaves the Navy with very little margin, he said. 
 
As a result, the service is examining the possibilities of extending the service lives of some subs by about three years. 
 
“Can we look at specific hulls individually and get additional life out of those hulls with some targeted maintenance? We are looking at that right now,” Pappano said. “We are planning right now … to do up to five hulls that we already targeted for a three-year life extension with about 18 months in the depot.” 
 
Pappano added that the final number won’t necessarily be five. He believes they will need to do at least two or three, but the service will plan for up to five. 
 
“It is not an all-or-nothing decision,” he said. “It’s an incremental decision. As the strategic landscape changes, as the role changes, as our construction performance changes, we can evaluate that going along.” 
 
The first sub likely to undergo the process would be the USS Alaska (SSBN 732) in fiscal 2029, which means planning to execute the service life extension would begin in the 2025 to 2026 timeframe, Pappano said. 
 
The Navy is in the midst of a high-stakes transition between the Ohio-class and Columbia-class SSBN programs. The Navy purchased the first Columbia-class boat in fiscal 2021, and will procure the second in 2024, with the remaining 10 at a rate of one per year between fiscal 2026 and 2035. 
 
The Navy’s fiscal 2023 budget submission predicted that the first boat would be delivered in 2027 and the second in 2030. Under that schedule, the Navy’s SSBN force would drop from 14 boats in fiscal 2026 to 11 boats in 2030-2032, according to a Congressional Research Service report. The Navy argues that operating with 11 boats will be acceptable during that period because all of the boats would be operational in those years, but it wouldn’t account for an unforeseen event that would force an SSBN out of service for a period of time. 

ARLINGTON, Va. — The weather in Guam has proved to pose challenges to operations of the Navy’s MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, a Navy admiral said. He also praised the value of the Triton as a targeting platform. 

In a situation report late last summer to the maritime patrol reconnaissance community, Rear Adm. Adam “Kujo” Kijek, commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Group, said the “most impactful lesson” of the Early Operational Capability deployment of the Triton to Guam was one “delivered by mother nature.” 

Kijek said the “weather in Guam, and associated OP Areas [operations areas], can be very challenging for UAV operations. During ‘monsoon’ season, and with a stated goal of 16 missions per month, there were many days that Triton could not get airborne or access required operating areas due to adverse weather. However, when weather permits Triton has proven its operational worth.” 

The admiral said that “to help combat these environmental anomalies, we executed a Seasonal Relocation Plan (SRP) to Misawa AB [Air Base] last summer, and Iwakuni [Marine Corps Air Station] this summer.  Exercising these expeditionary muscles and harvesting lessons learned will pay huge dividends when Triton Multi-INT shows up in theater next year.”     

Kijek noted that “there is tremendous value in providing the persistent ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] that Triton brings by establishing pattern of life and building a real-time Common Operational Picture for Fleet and Combatant Commanders. However, from a tactical perspective, I have been most impressed when Triton works as a targeting platform in concert with other aircraft and surface units.”  

The admiral said he believed “the operational impact of Triton will grow exponentially” when the UAV’s Multi-Intelligence Integrated Functional Capability-4 upgrade is deployed in 2023.   

“The ability of Triton’s SIGINT [signals intelligence] package to exploit the electromagnetic spectrum and the sheer volume of information harvested will present significant challenges to the Intel Community,” he said. “Simply adding a SIGINT Coordinator (SC) to every Triton aircrew is not enough. We are working closely with the C10F [Commander, U.S. 10th Fleet and NAVIFOR [Navy Information Forces] to ensure that Triton is postured to take full advantage of Navy’s Distributed SIGINT Operations architecture to realize its full potential. Achieving these linkages will be a primary focus during my tenure.” 

NAVAL BASE KITSAP, Wash. — Submarine Development Squadron (DEVRON) 5 held a ribbon cutting ceremony, Oct. 19, 2022, on a newly-completed service pier extension located on Naval Base Kitsap Bangor, Washington, Lt. Cmdr Christopher F. Donnelly of Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in a Nov. 1 release. 

The ceremony marked the completion of a major infrastructure project, nicknamed the “Olympic pier” due to its proximity to the Olympic Mountain Range, which will support the arrival of fast attack submarines, including the planned change of homeport for USS Seawolf (SSN 21) and USS Connecticut (SSN 22) from Naval Station Bremerton to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. 
 
The ceremony, which was led by Capt. Gary Montalvo, commodore of DEVRON 5, hosted the event which featured Adm. Stuart Munsch, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, as the keynote speaker. 

The service pier extension project was more than a decade in the making. Originally envisioned in 2008 and supported by Munsch, who was the DEVRON 5 commodore at the time and knew it was a project that was needed to service all classes of SSNs. Construction began in 2020. 
 
“Your efforts, and that of many others over the years, to build this pier and ready it to sustain our most advanced submarines, represents the best of the many organizations working together, fighting any and all obstacles to build capability to enhance our undersea dominance,” said Montalvo. 
 
The service pier extension includes state-of-the-art technologies for security and pier services for moored submarines. The shore power configuration incorporates the latest technology to provide multiple fully redundant power sources, ensuring continuous safe in-port operations and minimizing the affects due to normal wear and tear or natural disasters. The pier boasts a first-of-its-kind captured mooring system that compensates for tidal changes, which will ensure all classes of submarines remain securely moored without need to frequently adjust mooring lines. 
 
A full environmental assessment of the project was performed during the design phase in order to minimize the environmental impacts to the Hood Canal and its local fish and wildlife. Environmental considerations include a newly-designed, all-electric crane which will provide service on the pier, and the deliberate positioning of backup diesel generators located upland, away from the water. 
 
Upland support infrastructure for the service pier extension include a newly constructed parking lot to provide safe and convenient access for submarine crews and support personnel. The pier has maintenance support facilities dedicated to units moored at the service pier extension. 
 
“The completion of Olympic Pier advances a visionary shore infrastructure plan designed to improve quality of work for our Sailors, increase operational availability of fast attack submarines in the Pacific Northwest, and advance the research, development, test and evaluation needed to deliver decisive warfighting advantage,” said Munsch. “Olympic Pier enables us to bring together intellectual and industrial partners with the Submarine Force’s most experienced operators of advanced undersea systems and, now, the right current and future submarines to test and field those decisive new capabilities.” 
 
The service pier extension provides substantial immediate and long term benefits to the submarine force and the Navy. The planned change of homeport for Seawolf and Connecticut will improve the quality of service to the units while in port. Dedicated pier and maintenance facilities promote efficiency for maintenance. 
 
Support, training and oversight provided by DEVRON 5, the Immediate Superior in Command, will be improved by the close physical proximity of the boats. Longer-term benefits include the capability to maintain increased persistent presence of fast attack submarines in the northern Pacific region, and the continued development of future undersea warfare capabilities.

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Naval Aviation Training Systems and Ranges program office’s (PMA-205) Ocean Systems Fixed Ranges team recently achieved full operational capability on the Undersea Warfare Training Ranges Increment I (USWTR INC I) program 13 months ahead of schedule, the Naval Air Systems Command said in a Nov. 1 release. 

The Naval Aviation Training Systems and Ranges program office’s (PMA-205) Ocean Systems Fixed Ranges team recently achieved full operational capability on the Undersea Warfare Training Ranges Increment I (USWTR INC I) program 13 months ahead of schedule. U.S. NAVY 

 The USWTR INC I training range supports fleet readiness through realistic training and the tactical development of submarine, surface ship, and aircraft undersea warfare capabilities. 

“Since completing installation, the fleet has conducted four exercises on the Increment I range, to include critical anti-submarine warfare exercises, which shape future exercises and further advance the capabilities the Navy has to offer,” said Brandi Payne-Tapponnier, the program’s team lead. USWTR INC I allows for timely and accurate feedback of training performance to exercise participants and the ability to rapidly reconstruct the training event, enhancing the quality of complex training scenarios, she said.  

The USWTR program consists of three increments. During USWTR INC I, the team managed the installation of the ocean sensor and shore electronics subsystems located off the coast of Florida. Under Increments II and III, the team is upgrading previously installed systems at the USWTR’s other range locations in areas of the Pacific Ocean and international waters of the Caribbean Sea. 

“These ranges are essential to our national security, and provide critical support to the helicopter maritime strike, maritime patrol and reconnaissance, and Navy ship communities,” said Capt. Kevin McGee, PMA-205 program manager. “They include a vast array of technology providing a realistic training environment that enables ships and aircraft to track targets for anti-submarine warfare training, which increases fleet capability and lethality.” 

The team acquired and installed an additional total of 500 nautical miles of instrumented undersea warfare training ranges in littoral waters in the Atlantic Ocean. Secondary missions of USWTR INC I include training in shallow water and conducting regional conflict operations training. 

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) had resumed T-45C Goshawk aircraft flight operations Oct. 31, the Naval Air Systems Command said in a release.  

The Navy and Marine Corps’ fleet of T-45Cs have been on a safety pause since Oct. 14 following the discovery of an engine blade failure. Engineering analysis has revealed that a subset of T-45C engine blades do not meet the manufacturer’s engine specifications; those aircraft remain grounded. The T-45Cs that have returned to flight contain engines that are compliant with these specifications.  

“The process of returning to operations is based off engineering analysis by NAVAIR, with the most important decision being the safety of our aviators,” said CNATRA Rear Adm. Richard Brophy. “The aircraft we are flying are verified and known-good. We have the highest confidence in the compliance of these aircraft.” 

Flight operations for the rest of the T-45C fleet will remain paused as the Navy and its industry partner Rolls Royce continue to evaluate engineering data on the non-conforming parts and work to return additional T-45Cs to operational status. During this time, training air wings and squadrons are maximizing ground training, including classroom lectures, simulators and computer-based training. 

The T-45C is a tandem-seat jet trainer whose mission is to train Navy and Marine Corps pilots. 

“We sincerely thank the team at NAVAIR for their hard work and commitment to finding the best possible solution for the long-term safety of our aviators and aircraft. While the reintroduction of the T-45C fleet will be a staggered approach, it is not a process that will be rushed. It is essential that our maintenance partners analyze and diagnose this issue thoroughly so training operations can fully resume with the safety of each of our aviators as a top priority,” said Brophy. 

“Safety of our student aviators and instructors is paramount,” said Rear Adm. John Lemmon, Program Executive Officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs (PEO(T)). “Our Navy teams and industry partner are diligently and thoroughly analyzing all facets of this issue to determine a safe and expeditious way forward for the rest of the T-45 fleet to return to flight.”

OEIRAS, Portugal — Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) and U.S. Sixth Fleet (SIXTHFLT) concluded Vigilance Activity Neptune Strike, the eighth phase of NATO’s long-planned Project Neptune series of activities, from STRIKFORNATO headquarters in Oeiras, Portugal, Oct. 28, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO Public Affairs and U.S. Sixth Fleet Public Affairs said in a release. 

Neptune Strike demonstrated the combined capacity of the Alliance while underscoring allied and partner nations’ commitments to deterrence and defense of sovereign Alliance territory. This activity and NATO’s wider strategy deters adversaries and terrorist groups from spreading destabilization, widening disorder or accruing decisive military advantage that would impact allies’ security. 

“Neptune Strike sits at the leading edge of NATO’s vigilance activities, providing credible deterrence and demonstrating the inherent flexibility of the carrier strike group while building high-end interchangeability among our NATO allies and partners on a firm foundation of trust,” said Vice Adm. Thomas Ishee, commander of both SIXTHFLT and STRIKFORNATO. “The energy across the entire Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO team was palpable as we pushed the bounds of allied integration in the land, air and on the seas.” 

Throughout the two-week long vigilance activity, NATO servicemembers from several allied nations planned, briefed, and executed a variety of specific evolutions, including air-to-land integration with allies including Hungary, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland and Slovakia, maritime and interdiction activities, and air-to-air refueling and air-to-air rehearsal events throughout allied airspace. 

While allied and partner aircraft flew together in the skies, the ships of the George H. W. Bush carrier strike group (GHWBCSG) sailed alongside multiple allied ships in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. These included Albanian and Croatian ships, as well as members of Allied Maritime Command’s Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG) 2 and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group (SNMCMG) 2 and the United Kingdom’s Littoral Response Group (LRG). 

“I could not be more proud of the teamwork, expertise and professionalism displayed by everyone in making Neptune Strike 22.2 a resounding success,” said Ishee. “The evolution of Project Neptune is both a testament to the innovation of the NATO Alliance and a tangible demonstration that we truly are stronger together.” 

The diversity and complexity of evolutions conducted during Neptune Strike, through multiple domains and unique scenarios, continued to validate interoperability of a CSG within NATO command and control architectures to contend with a rapidly evolving security environment. The activity is proof of the warfighting advantage that characterizes allied interoperability and, ultimately, the strength of the most successful Alliance in history. 

“Neptune Strike has again offered a perfect opportunity to fully integrate the combat power of a U.S. aircraft carrier into enhanced Vigilance Activity in direct support of NATO’s commitment to deter conflict and defend allies. It has offered the chance to combine capabilities from a large number of nations in all warfare domains — on land, at sea and in the air — as a clear demonstration of allied unity of purpose and cohesion,” said Royal Navy Rear Adm. James Morley, deputy commander, STRIKFORNATO. “It has further rehearsed STRIKFORNATO’s role as the primary integrator for U.S. maritime combat power. The George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group is now even better prepared to execute complex missions in concert with wider allied efforts to defend the Euro-Atlantic area.” 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s visit to the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) on Oct. 25 served as a key highlight of the activity. While aboard the ship, Stoltenberg reflected on the carrier’s presence as a demonstration of U.S. capability and commitment to the Alliance, a general escalation of tension between European powers, and how the conclusion of Neptune Strike – and its inclusion of more than 70 aircraft, 20 ships and 5,000 personnel from 26 NATO allies and partners – demonstrates NATO’s capability on the world stage. 

“[Neptune Strike 2022] is a perfect example of the transatlantic bond — Europe and North America working together in NATO,” Stoltenberg said. “[NATO’s] strength helps to prevent any miscalculation by sending a clear message: NATO will protect and defend every inch of allied territory.” 

Participating nations in Neptune Strike included Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, U.K. and the U.S. 

Vigilance Activities are day-to-day activities, occurring in all domains and across SACEUR’s area of responsibility, to ensure appropriate strategic awareness and force readiness required to sustain peace. 

For over 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with allies and partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability. 

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF, and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations. 

STRIKFORNATO, headquartered in Oeiras, Portugal, is Supreme Allied Commander Europe’s (SACEUR) premier, rapidly deployable and flexible, maritime power projection Headquarters, capable of planning and executing full spectrum joint maritime operations.

MANAMA, Bahrain — U.S. Navy personnel rescued eight civilian mariners in the Gulf of Oman, Oct. 29, after they set their fishing vessel on fire prior to being boarded, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs said in an Oct. 30 release.. 

U.S. Navy patrol coastal ship USS Sirocco (PC 6) was conducting a counter-smuggling patrol in international waters when the mariners set their fishing vessel ablaze. Sailors from Sirocco rescued the mariners from the water and provided medical aide as USS Chinook (PC 9) and USS Thunderbolt (PC 12) extinguished the fire on the vessel. 

“This was a superb effort by all of our crews,” said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. “I couldn’t be prouder of everyone involved in saving lives while carrying out our mission to disrupt destabilizing maritime activity.” 

The mariners, who identified themselves as Iranian and Pakistani, admitted to smuggling hashish and methamphetamines. U.S. naval forces recovered 560 kilograms of hashish worth an estimated $1 million, about one-third of the total shipment. The remaining drugs were destroyed in the fire. 

After the mariners received immediate medical care, all were transferred to a regional nation for additional treatment and repatriation. The fishing vessel, which sustained significant damage during the fire, sank. 

The rescue comes three days after U.S. Navy personnel rescued three civilian mariners in the Gulf of Aden, Oct. 26, after their small motorboat caught fire while transiting international waters. 

Guided-missile destroyer USS Nitze (DDG 94) and patrol coastal ship USS Monsoon (PC 4) responded after observing the mariners in distress and immediately rendered assistance. Sailors safely rescued the civilian mariners before their burning vessel sank approximately 50 miles off the coast of Yemen. 

The U.S. 5th Fleet operating area includes 21 countries, the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and Suez Canal. 

WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. — An EA-18G Growler attached to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129, successfully completed a functional check flight at Naval Air Station (NAS) Whidbey Island, Oct. 17, marking the end of a complex transformation process for an aircraft thought to be beyond repair, Commander Naval Air Forces Public Affairs said in an Oct. 2 release. This five-year effort demonstrates large-scale teamwork between multiple organizations over an extended timeline. 

The aircraft, then attached to the “Wizards” of VAQ-133, was involved in a mid-air collision with another aircraft attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2 at NAS Fallon during a training event on Sept. 14, 2017. Both aircraft landed safely and the aircrew were uninjured. The Growler remained at NAS Fallon for several years, as refurbishment of this nature had never been done before and there were no processes or procedures on exactly how the repairs could be completed. 
 
Upon initial inspection, there was little hope the aircraft would be fit to fly due to the complexity of the repairs required following the mishap, as well as weather damage from years of sitting in a desert environment. However, after thorough analysis and continued coordination, the Growler’s road to recovery began when clearance for repair was granted in 2021. In February of that year, the aircraft was loaded onto a flatbed truck and transferred to the Fleet Replacement Squadron, VAQ-129, at NAS Whidbey Island. 
 
Classified as a “special rework,” funding was approved and a long-term hangar space was identified for the unprecedented project. For more than a year, engineers, maintainers and artisans from facilities across the United States collaborated to develop processes, complete repairs and thoroughly inspect the recovered aircraft — more than 2,000 man hours in total. 
 
“This was a team effort by personnel from Fleet Readiness Center (FRC) Southeast, FRC Southwest Engineering and my team from FRC Northwest,” said Tommy Moore, depot lead for FRC Northwest. “We reassembled the aircraft by replacing all major components and turned the aircraft back over to VAQ-129 as a ‘special rework’ complete on April 24, 2022.” 

The Growler will soon be transferred to an operational squadron in order to deploy around the globe and be ready to conduct flight operations for decades to come. Capt. David Harris, commodore, Electronic Attack Wing Pacific, commended the efforts of the entire Naval Aviation Enterprise in the accomplishment of this first-of-its-kind mission. 
 
“It was truly amazing to watch the entire Naval Aviation Enterprise team come together to get this much-needed asset back up to flight status,” said Harris. “From the engineers who developed the needed repair designs, to the artisans who accomplished the complex repairs, to the VAQ-129 Sailors who ultimately rebuilt the aircraft to a flight status; it was a true team effort.”