The EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare platform has been jamming enemy communications and conducting electronic attacks since the Vietnam War.
But, its sun is now setting.
The Corps is down to one final Prowler squadron, Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2, or VMAQ-2, which is slated to return home in early November from its final deployment, according to Christopher Harrison, a Marine spokesman.
The squadron is set to “cease operations” in March 2019, Harrison said.
Members of VMAQ-2 recently have been deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of operations, where the U.S. military and host nation partner forces are still battling ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.
Despite the aircraft’s age, the platform has been vital to operations in the CENTCOM region with its ability to jam ISIS communications and radio-controlled IEDs, and suppress Syrian/Russian air defense systems.
The Prowler was used to escort a pair of B-1 bombers in April as it carried out airstrikes against the Syrian regime in retaliation for use of chemical weapons. The EA-6B was likely used for its ability to suppress Syrian and Russian air defenses.
In May, VMAQ-3 held a deactivation ceremony, leaving VMAQ-2 as the last still operational squadron.
Those aircraft will be stored at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, nicknamed the Boneyard.
“VMAQ-2′s deactivation in FY19 will mark the end of the EA-6B’s service in the Marine Corps, as well as its continuous employment as a joint tactical Airborne Electronic Attack (AEA) asset,” Capt. Sarah Mobilio previously told Marine Corps Times.
The Navy’s EA-18G is set to replace the Prowler.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
