OAK HARBOR — The Royal Australian Air Force now has a presence aboard Naval Air Station Whidbey Island as Flight Lieutenant Sean Rutledge became the first RAAF pilot instructor to fly the new EA-18G Growler.
The Australian government is buying 12 of the Boeing-made Growlers. Australia will start taking delivery in 2017. The U.S. started using the Growler in 2008 and is replacing all of its various electronic attack aircraft with this particular aircraft.
The RAAF is training at NAS Whidbey Island, which is the home station for the entire U.S. fleet of EA-18Gs. Over the next three years, six crews from the RAAF will learn to fly at the naval air station.
Each of the six RAAF teams will consist of one pilot and one electronic warfare officer. The 12 Australian aviators will learn land-based Growler operations exclusively. Most of their American counterparts are U.S. Navy aviators who must learn carrier based operations.
Rutledge, who arrived in Oak Harbor in September, will become the Australian instructor for the Growler. He said the first of the RAAF teams will begin their nine-month training cycle in January.
“I’m pretty well aligned with American fliers,” said Rutledge, who has several multination exercises under his belt. He spent three years flying F-111s, and another three years flying F/A-18F Super Hornets with Australia’s No. 1 Squadron, out of RAAF Amberley.
Rutledge hails from Queensland, and came stateside with his wife and family dog.
“It’s a great spot with plenty of outdoor things to do,” he said, “But I’ll have to transition from surfing to snow skiing to fit in with the very welcoming people here in the Northwest.”
Courtesy of NAS Whidbey Island public affairs office.
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