Last Flight of the Prowler

They don't get a lot of attention. There is one movie based on their predecessor...but nobody really talks about the Prowlers. The electronic warfare aircraft that served this nation for 42 years will have its last squadron, a Marine Corps squadron, deactivated this week. Friday, March 8th, 2019 will be the end of the Prowler.If you don't know about the Prowler, that's a good thing. Their job wasn't to be sexy badass fighter pilots running and gunning against MIGs. No, rather their job was to increase the lethality of everyone around them. They collected and provided intelligence, jammed radar, jammed IED's and a whole host of other things that if we knew about and then subsequently talked about, you'd find that our body had mysteriously disappeared under very suspicious circumstances (if that ever happens will someone feed my dog, he's a cool dude).The EA-6B Prowler was designed off of the A-6 Intruder airframe, but bolstered the crew to four and cranked steroids into the Electronic Warfare Suite.It's not a fast aircraft, relatively speaking in regards to other aircraft. Cruising at a speed of 418 knots (481 mph) and when cranking its engines to full cowabunga only hit 566 knots (651 mph). It's a sneaky aircraft though, not because of stealth, but rather the ability to make enemy radar sites go fornicate themselves. It'll penetrate and decimate enemy radar sites with Anti-Radiation missiles, paving the way for less stealthy, but mildly sexier aircraft with a lot more weapons.Obviously, there is a replacement. The EA-18G Growler has taken over the role of the EA-6B Prowler, but we'd be remiss if we didn't get a little nostalgic over a plane that has quietly played a major role as a force multiplier in our military operations for the last four decades and some change.Prowler pilots, we thank you for that one night in Ramadi (circa 2005-2006) when we went south of Baseline and captured an HVT and you were on patrol, jamming IED's. I don't know for sure if it was you...but that's what's cool about you guys...I'll never know for sure, and you'll probably never tell.