In May 2021, two months after a detachment to Naval Air Station Key West, FL, the Star Warriors of VAQ-209 traveled to Gulfport, Mississippi, to participate in Exercise Southern Strike 2021. The EA-18G Growlers assigned to VAQ-209 participated with a Wyoming Air National Guard C-130 Hercules during the exercise, which is a large-scale, conventional and special operations exercise hosted by the Mississippi National Guard.

Star Warrior Commanding Officer, CDR Dustin Engel, said “As always, the Star Warriors executed flawlessly in a highly dynamic and joint environment with a large number o...