A senior Air Force officer and a congressmen both have said in the last week that electronic attack aircraft based out of Whidbey Island Naval Air Station are likely being used in Syrian and Iraqi air strikes.

Congressman Rick Larsen, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview last week that while he couldn’t say for sure, it was his understanding that electronic attack aircraft is routinely used in airstrikes of that nature.

In a press briefing this week, F-22A pilot Maj. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian told reporters that 74 percent of the airstrikes are being conducted by the U.S. Air Force and that electronic attack aircraft is likely assisting, according to SeaPower magazine.

Harrigian would not say specifically how the Growlers and Prowlers are being used, but noted that “as you look at the packages that have been put together, there have been electronic warfare assets as part of the packages, depending upon what kind of targets they were going after and where those targets are located.”

In August and September, more than 240 air strikes have been made against the Islamic State in Iraq and ISIS, SeaPower reported.

Navy aircraft participating in the strikes are F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet aircraft from the carrier USS George H.W. Bush, Harrigian said.

Electronic attack support in the air campaign is being provided by Navy and Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler aircraft and a squadron of EA-18G Growler electronic aircraft is en route to the region onboard aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.

The Navy is currently in the process of transitioning all their electronic attack squadrons from the Prowler to the Growler, although Prowlers will still be flown by the Marine Corps.

NAS Whidbey Public Affairs Officer Mike Welding said he couldn’t identify which squadrons are currently deployed to the region because military action is in progress.

Requests for more specific information about which Prowler and Growler squadrons are and will be deployed to the region from Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet were forwarded to a participating air craft carrier for input.

A response was not received by press time.

Harrigian said the use of airpower against ISIS “will be a persistent and sustained campaign,” according to SeaPower.

“We see airpower as one of the fundamental components of the comprehensive strategy,” Harrigain told reporters. “We also recognize that airpower alone will not destroy ISIL. But I offer to you that in this current phase, airpower has been decisive in a couple of key areas: preventing the massing of forces on a large scale, degrading ISIL’s command-and-control capabilities and working to impact ISIL’s finances.

“The bottom line is: airpower’s targeted actions are disrupting ISIL’s command and control, logistics and infrastructure, and their freedom of movement.”