US Navy to forward deploy Shadowhawks Growlers to Atsugi, Japan

VAQ-141 EA-18G Growler. Photo by Troy Prince (MidwaySailor) on Fencecheck forums

This news kind of flew under the radar given the original directive was out January 17th. According to the U.S. Navy's Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the Shadowhawks of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 141 will move to Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi, Japan, from NAS Whidbey Island at the end of February with six Boeing EA-18G Growlers.

The Shadowhawks will replace five EA-6B Prowlers of VAQ-136 Gauntlets in Japan, home of Carrier Air Wing Five and the USS George Washington (CVN-73), the U.S. Navy's sole carrier air wing/aircraft carrier forward deployed outside of the continental United States.