The ‘Gauntlets’ of VAQ-136 are based at NAF Atsugi, Japan and flew the Grumman EA-6B Prowler. They were established in April 1973, then transitioned from the USS Midway (CV-41) to the USS Independence (CV-62) in August 1991 when the latter became home-ported with CVW-5 at Yokosuka. The UMPQUA patch from the Gauntlets’ is their JOPA patch. UMPQUA stands for Underprivileged Minions Perpetually Questioning Unlimited Authority. The patch comes from the family of an ECMO who served during Desert Storm. They had a dairy farm, and the indian-head patch is the logo for the farm.
