The Navy fired the commander of a California-based squadron of E-2 Hawkeye airborne command and control planes Friday, officials announced.
Cmdr. Charles Diehl was relieved as the commander of Airborne Command & Control Squadron 115, or VAW-115, for “a loss of confidence in his ability to command.” That phrasing is typical in Navy announcements of a commander’s relief. The Navy typically does not release details on why a commander is relieved, reasons for which can vary from leadership performance to off-duty issues.
“The Navy maintains the highest standards for commanding officers and holds them accountable when those standards are not met,” a Navy release said.
A Maryland native, Diehl graduated from the University of Maryland in 2005 and was commissioned through Officer Candidate School in January 2006. He graduated as a Naval Flight Officer in June 2008, according to a Navy biography.
He has deployed aboard the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Carl Vinson.
Diehl is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, or Top Gun, qualifying as a Hawkeye Weapons and Tactics Instructor. He was also assigned as a Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, serving in the Chairman’s Action Group Strategic Engagements Team.
Diehl has over 2,500 flight hours in 12 aircraft. His awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Strike/Flight Air Medal (3 awards), Navy Commendation Medal, Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal and various campaign and service awards.
Diehl assumed command of VAW-115 in May 2024. Known as the “Liberty Bells” and based at Naval Air Station Point Magu, VAW-115 has flown the E-2 since the early 1970s.
The E-2 Hawkeye is one of the Navy’s longest-serving aircraft, though updated versions now serve across the fleet from those delivered early in its five decades of service. The carrier-based command and control plane is also one of the Navy’s most distinctive-looking aircraft, with a large, circular radar array on its back. Using that powerful radar, the E-2’s role is to track aircraft and other targets across a wide area, its air controllers directing friendly forces to find and engage opponents.
The squadron began flying the lasts version of the plane, the E-2D, in 2022.
The latest on Task & Purpose
- Air Force captain becomes first woman in service history to receive Silver Star as crews honored for drone fight
- An Army general’s final ‘walk’ at the Tomb of the Unknowns
- ‘Last man out of Afghanistan,’ Gen. Christopher Donahue tapped for fourth star
- Navy sailor scales burning building to rescue 4 people
- How the Army’s cavalry scouts earn their spurs