{"id":11044,"date":"2016-05-28T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2016-05-28T12:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/05\/28\/the-military-will-need-the-marines-electronic-warfare-squadrons-beyond-2019\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:09:12","slug":"the-military-will-need-the-marines-electronic-warfare-squadrons-beyond-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/opinion\/2016\/05\/28\/the-military-will-need-the-marines-electronic-warfare-squadrons-beyond-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"The military will need the Marines&#8217; electronic warfare squadrons beyond 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em><strong>Editor&#8217;s note:\u00a0<\/strong>The following is an opinion piece.\u00a0The writer is not employed by Military Times and the\u00a0views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Military Times\u00a0or its editorial staff.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Marine Corps&#8217; decision<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0is<\/span>\u00a0to decommission<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ing<\/span> four electronic warfare\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">VMAQ <\/span>squadrons over the next three years is\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0This decision is <\/span>short sighted and ill-advised \u2014 especially when considering the continued threats to our country and the operational challenges facing the F-35 program.\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">The as the country faces global threats worldwide\u00a0especially when scrutinizing potential threats to our country world-wide and the continuing operational challenges and problems with the F-35 program. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As with <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">Just like <\/span>the Air Force&#8217;s<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">&#8216;<\/span> A-10 &#8220;Warthog&#8221; program, funding issues have played a major role in the Marine Corps\u2019 decision to phase out its EA-6B Prowlers<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> ICAP III decision, not operational requirements<\/span>. \u00a0The tactical jamming and electronic attack\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">aircraft, EW, especially Electronic Attack, <\/span>capabilities <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">that <\/span>the Prowler brings to the\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0today\u2019s \u2014\u00a0and future \u2014\u00a0<\/span>battlefield are still relevant, and will be well into the next decade.\u00a0The technology will also be vital to the\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">to the <\/span>survival of our legacy aircraft like\u00a0the\u00a0AV-8B Harrier, F\/A-18 Hornet and\u00a0MV-22 Ospreys, as well as our fifth-generation aircraft<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> and will be required into the next decade<\/span>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cost should not be the determining factor in the electronic-warfare\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">VMAQ <\/span>community\u2019s demise. The &#8220;risk to&#8221; and &#8220;safety of&#8221;\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">&#8220;RISK TO&#8221; and &#8220;SAFETY OF&#8221; <\/span>our aircrews and assets should be paramount!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">shorted-sighted <\/span>decision sends two dozen\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">sun-downs 24 <\/span>EA-6B\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ICAP III <\/span>aircraft into the sunset. It also\u00a0stands down the Intermediate Maintenance Support assets, vans and personnel used to support autonomous squadron operations and shuts down the electronic warfare schoolhouse where <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">that has formulated EW training and instruction for <\/span>Marine EA-6B aircrew have trained since Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">misguided decision <\/span>not only negatively impacts Marine Corps operations, but the tactical and strategic capabilities to support the operational plans and tactical requirements of the entire\u00a0Defense Department and all combatant commands.\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">-wide and combatant commands DOD and COCOM\u2019s OPLAN and tactical requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After the disbandment of the VMAQ community in 2019, 50 percent <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">fifty (50) per cent <\/span>of DoD&#8217;s <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the <\/span>expeditionary electronic attack capabilities <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">within the Department of Defense <\/span>will be gone. There are no <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">with NO <\/span>comparable replacement electronic-warfare <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">EW <\/span>capabilities within DoD<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0within the Marine Corps\u00a0DOD or the Marine Corps<\/span>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first step in this sundown decision has\u00a0already been implemented with the decommissioning of Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Training Squadron 1<span class=\"rte rte-comment\"> One<\/span>. \u00a0That move will be followed by\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">e loss of VMAQT-1 is the first step in <\/span>the total demobilization of the remaining <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">four <\/span>Marine Corps EA-6B <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">ICAP III <\/span>squadrons, and the loss of airborne electronic warfare\/attack capabilities and <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">EW <\/span>expertise that have supported the requirements of the Marine Corps and Defense Department <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">DOD\u2019s requirements <\/span>since Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Navy Department <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">of the Navy <\/span>has indicated it\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">they <\/span>will assume DoD&#8217;s <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">the DOD\u2019s <\/span>expeditionary airborne electronic-warfare\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">EW <\/span>requirements after the last <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0stand down of the <\/span>VMAQ community is shuttered in 2019. However, the Navy\u2019s EA-18G expeditionary community will undertake this <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">DOD EW <\/span>mission without adding more expeditionary squadrons or EA deployment capabilities.\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">The current Marine Corps decision will reduce COCOM\u2019s warfighting options and resources by 50% with no equivalent replacement capabilities! <\/span>The four Navy expeditionary EA-18G squadrons will be extremely challenged \u2014 or perhaps\u00a0unable \u2014\u00a0to meet, global <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">COCOM\u2019s warfighting options and <\/span>operational requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The loss of the four Marine Prowler\u00a0squadrons will severely limit the U.S. military&#8217;s <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">\u00a0have a detrimental and negative impact on strategic and tactical electronic warfare EA capabilities within the Department of Defense and severely limit COCOM\u2019s <\/span>warfighting capabilities. The initial stand down of the VMAQ community should be delayed until 2020, providing additional time to review <span class=\"rte rte-comment\">EA <\/span>alternatives and minimize the loss of these\u00a0<span class=\"rte rte-comment\">DOD EW <\/span>capabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Lt. Col. Ricky B. Johnson (ret.) is a\u00a0Cubic EA-6B ICAP III instructor at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, who trained EA-6B aircrew for more than 19 years. He spent 23 years in the Marine Corps, with nearly half\u00a0of that time spent with Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2, commanding the squadron from July 1993 to June 1995. He also spent\u00a0six years as an electronic-warfare officer on four Marine headquarters staffs.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Marine Corps&#8217; decision to decommission four electronic warfare squadrons over the next three years is short sighted and ill-advised \u2014 especially when considering the continued threats to our country and the operational challenges facing the F-35 program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":25535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":14,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1817],"class_list":["post-11044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"U35UH723NBAITLWLL3CL62GBQA","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/2016\/05\/28\/the-military-will-need-the-marines-electronic-warfare-squadrons-beyond-2019\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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military will need the Marines' electronic warfare squadrons beyond 2019 - Marine Corps Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/opinion\/2016\/05\/28\/the-military-will-need-the-marines-electronic-warfare-squadrons-beyond-2019\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/opinion\/2016\/05\/28\/the-military-will-need-the-marines-electronic-warfare-squadrons-beyond-2019\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635997106267652861-25355099631-06cd8723bd-ojpg.jpg","datePublished":"2016-05-28T12:00:03+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T20:09:12+00:00","description":"The Marine Corps' decision to decommission four electronic warfare squadrons over the next three years is short sighted and ill-advised \u2014 especially when considering the continued threats to our country and the 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