On the morning of January 1, 1986, VAQ-135 was deployed to support Sixth Fleet Battle Group operations in the Mediterranean Sea. Within 48 hours, they had sortied from NAS Whidbey Island, joined their new air wing Carrier Air Wing 13 (CVW-13) at sea on board and supported contingency operations underway in the central Mediterranean Sea. For the next five months, with no in-theater supply support, the squadron provided electronic warfare support to U.S. naval forces operating off the coast of Libya. The squadron took part in the successful strikes in the Gulf of Sidra in March 1986 and provided key close-support jamming services in the successful &lt;a href="1986%20Bombing%20of%20Libya"&gt;strikes on the Benina/Benghazi airfields&lt;/a&gt; in April of that year. As a result, the squadron was awarded two Navy Unit Commendations, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Navy Expeditionary Medal and the Association of Old Crows Outstanding Unit Award for 1986.