Navy Cmdr. William Coulter was relieved as commander of Electronic Attack Squadron 136 based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington. The squadron is deployed on the USS Carl Vinson in the Western Pacific. (U.S. Navy)
The commanding officer of an electronic warfare squadron from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington deployed to the Western Pacific on the USS Carl Vinson has been relieved of command, the Navy said Friday.
Cmdr. William Coulter was removed as commander of the Electronic Attack Squadron 136 by Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello, commander of Carrier Strike Group 1, “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” according to a statement released by the U.S. 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan.
Coulter had commanded the squadron since January 2023. The squadron deployed in October to the Western Pacific on the Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The Carl Vinson is in Singapore now. The ship has been taking part in exercises with Japanese and Filipino military forces amid what The Associated Press termed in November were “brushes with China” over the South China Sea.
Cmdr. Paul Ritter, executive officer of the squadron, will take command effective immediately, the Navy said. Ritter had been scheduled to take command of the squadron in April 2024, according to the Navy statement.
Coulter is being temporarily reassigned to Electronic Attack Wing Pacific, which is headquartered at Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, north of Seattle.
“Navy commanding officers are held to high standards of personal and professional conduct. They are expected to uphold the highest standards of responsibility, reliability, and leadership, and the Navy holds them accountable when they fall short of those standards,” the Navy said in the Coulter announcement.
The military frequently uses “loss of confidence” as the reason for relieving a commanding officer.
The squadron, nicknamed “Gauntlets,” flies the EF-18G Growler, a variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet. The two-seat aircraft is used to jam or disrupt enemy radar and other electronics.
The Carl Vinson is the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 1, which also includes Carrier Air Wing 2, the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton, and guided-missile destroyers of Destroyer Squadron1. The Carl Vinson and the other ships are homeported in San Diego.
