VMAQ - 4 Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4 ( VMAQ - 4 ) is a United States Marine Corps electronic warfare squadron consisting of EA - 6B Prowler jets . The squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point , North Carolina and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 14 ( MAG - 14 ) and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing ( 2nd MAW ) . Mission . Support the Marine Air - Ground Task Force ( MAGTF ) Commander by conducting airborne electronic warfare , day or night , under all weather conditions during Expeditionary , Joint , or Combined operations . History . Korean War . On September 15 , 1952 , VMC - 1 was established at Pohang - dong , Korea . While flying combat missions during the Korean War , VMC - 1 flew the Douglas AD - 4N Skyraider from 1952 to 1958 . After flying the Skyraider , VMC - 1 was combined with VMJ - 1 on July 31 , 1958 at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro , California . This combination , along with the formation of VMCJ - 2 , provided the Marine Corps with squadrons that were dedicated to perform electronic warfare and photoreconnaissance missions . Vietnam War . During this new era , VMCJ - 1 flew the first carrier - based all weather jet , the Douglas F3D - 2Q Skynight . In 1962 , the Navy and Marine Corps re - designated all of their aircraft , resulting in the plane ’ s new designation of EF - 10 Skynight . VMCJ - 1 ’ s Skynights were the only jet - powered aircraft to fly combat missions in both the Korean and Vietnam War s . From April 14 , 1964 to December 16 , 1965 VMCJ - 1 flew its Vought RF - 8A Crusaders in photoreconnaissance missions from the USS Ticonderoga ( CVA - 14 ) , USS Constellation ( CVA - 64 ) , USS Coral Sea ( CVA - 43 ) and the USS Oriskany ( CVA - 34 ) . In April 1965 VMCJ - 1 took its EF - 10B aircraft from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni , Japan and joined Marine Aircraft Group 16 ( MAG - 16 ) at Danang to combat the increase of surface - to - air missile s in Vietnam . In July of that same year , six VMCJ - 1 EF - 10B ’ s supported the first strike against a surface - to - air missile site in history . In November 1966 , the Grumman EA - 6A Electric Intruder was introduced at Danang and flew combat missions as far north as Hanoi and Haiphong and eventually phased out the EF - 10B Skynight . VMCJ - 1 retired its RF - 8A Crusaders and received McDonald - Douglas RF - 4B Phantom IIs to accomplish the photoreconnaissance mission . VMCJ - 2 and VMCJ - 3 also rotated through Danang with the VMCJ squadrons flying electronic attack and photoreconnaissance missions for thousands of strike missions for the remainder of the Vietnam War . After the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam , VMCJ - 1 was again flying missions from Navy aircraft carriers . During the fall of South Vietnam from September 11 , 1973 to December 31 , 1975 , VMCJ - 1 and VMCJ - 1 Detachment 101 conducted missions from the USS Midway ( CVA - 41 ) , eventually being replaced by VMCJ - 2 in December 1975 when the USS Midway returned to her home port . Reorganization and the 1980s . Due to force restructures , the Marine Corps decided to reorganize its squadrons to establish dedicated electronic attack and reconnaissance squadrons . The result was the establishment on July 1 , 1974 of VMFP - 3 at MCAS El Toro , which would then only fly the RF - 4B Phantom II . All EA - 6A aircraft were reorganized at MCAS Cherry Point , North Carolina under the designation VMAQ - 2 . In September 1975 , VMCJ - 1 and its “ Romeo Mike ” tail flash was disestablished . During this time , the U . S . Navy had been receiving the newly designed Grumman EA - 6B Prowler . The Marine Corps decided to maintain its war proven EA - 6A ’ s until the Prowler Improved Capability ( ICAP ) aircraft would be produced . In the early 1980s , the Marine Corps began receiving the ICAP EA - 6B Prowlers . The growing number of Prowlers forced the Marine Corps to reduce its number of EA - 6A ’ s . To accomplish this , the Marine Corps moved its EA - 6A ’ s to the Marine Reserves at NAS Whidbey Island , Washington . This allowed the Marine Corps to maintain a proven electronic attack asset and on May 21 , 1981 VMAQ - 4 was established as a reserve squadron at NAS Whidbey Island flying the EA - 6A . Many members of the new VMAQ - 4 had flown EA - 6As in Vietnam while in VMCJ - 1 , and when the time came to designate a tail code the members reprised the old “ RM ” as a remembrance of VMCJ - 1 . Gulf War and the 1990s . During the spring of 1991 , VMAQ - 4 transitioned from the EA - 6A to the newer EA - 6B Prowler . That summer , the squadron was activated for a Unit Deployment Program ( UDP ) to MCAS Iwakuni , Japan to help relieve the active duty squadron VMAQ - 2 detachments that spent the previous 14 months overseas . During the UDP , VMAQ - 4 had several " mini - det " s to places such as Kadena Air Force Base , Okinawa ; RAAF Curtin , Australia ; and Naval Air Station Cubi Point , Philippines . After returning from the UDP and standing down for approximately 10 months as a reserve squadron , VMAQ - 4 was restructured as an active duty squadron and moved to MCAS Cherry Point in October 1992 . Around the same time , one year after Operation Desert Storm , VMAQ - 2 , detachments X ( x - ray ) , Y ( yankee ) , and Z ( zulu ) were divided into three squadrons , VMAQ - 1 , 2 , and 3 . This restructuring move gave the Marine Corps four full active duty EA - 6B squadrons based out of MCAS Cherry Point , NC . From 1996 to 1999 , VMAQ - 4 and its “ RM ” tail flash flew in support of combat strikes from Aviano Air Base , Italy during Operation Deny Flight , Operation Decisive Endeavour , Operation Deliberate Guard and Operation Allied Force over the former Yugoslavia . In 2002 , VMAQ - 4 deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Southern Watch . Recent History . In 2005 , VMAQ - 4 deployed to Al Asad Airbase , Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . After a successful deployment , the squadron returned to Cherry Point in July and supported the fall WTI course in Yuma , AZ . In 2006 , VMAQ - 4 conducted a DEFTAC exercise in MCAS Yuma and later that year supported Exercise RED FLAG 06 - 02B . In January 2007 , VMAQ - 4 deployed to MCAS Iwakuni from January to April where they conducted DEFTAC and HARM exercises at Kadena AFB in Okinawa and participated in Operation FOAL EAGLE . VMAQ - 4 returned from deployment in April 2007 . In August 2007 , VMAQ - 4 conducted a TACDEMO exercise at MCAS Yuma in order to prove the effectiveness of the integration of the EA - 6B and the LITENING Targeting Pod . Later that fall , a VMAQ - 4 detachment augmented WTI 1 - 08 in MCAS Yuma . During December 2007 , VMAQ - 4 deployed to MCAS Yuma in support of Exercise DESERT TALON 01 - 08 . Upon return to MCAS Cherry Point , the squadron spent the remainder of 2007 preparing for the upcoming deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom in January 2008 . In January 2008 , VMAQ - 4 deployed to Al Asad Airbase for a six month deployment in support of OIF 06 - 08 .