VAQ-141 becomes the second squadron to formally transition from the venerable EA-6B Prowler to the high caliber EA-18G Growler.
After 8 months of transition training with VAQ-129, the Shadowhawks lead by Cmdr. David Bryson, completed their training with a ceremony and flyover held at NAS Whidbey Island on February 12th.
Even though the second Growler squadron to achieve this milestone, the Shadowhawks will be the first to deploy on the boat, in their case, with CVW-8 aboard USS George HW Bush (CVN-77) in spring of 2011. As such, Capt. Pat ‘Stubby’ Cleary CAG-8 was one of the guest speakers at the ceremony. He remarked,
"It's a pretty phenomenal accomplishment to do that much work and reinvent yourselves in [less than] one year. I'm very proud of what you've done, and I'm very impressed with what you've done… This airplane [the EA-18G] is the most capable airplane the U.S. Navy has today. I would argue that it is probably the most capable aircraft in the U.S. inventory today, which means it's the most capable aircraft in the world."
Commander Bryson was certainly proud of his squadron’s accomplishment,
"One thing I've noticed throughout this entire process in all the 'Shadowhawk' Sailors is this; even though the entire squadron was in the process of transition, the Sailors never actually changed, they never went away from what makes this group of people great in my opinion, what I call the 'Shadowhawk Spirit,' and their work ethic; a great job on both accounts by these folks. This day would have never arrived, nor would the squadron have performed as well as it did during this transition without these Sailors and their work ethic and spirit. These are the people who got us to where we are today."
Congrats Shadowhawks!
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