Exactly. Half of the IP's were tactical types while the other half were E-2 pilots. I don't recall any COD guys but I'm sure they made their way through at times. From my understanding, it was a very much sought after billet. Believe me, if it still existed when my first shore tour came about, I would have done a lot more kicking and screaming after Meridian was pulled from me at the last moment. I remember our old XO was a former A-6 driver and used to snort tequila through his nose
I had the good fortune of going through VT-4 as a retread in the early '80's when it was T-2's and A-4's. That made it a maintenance nightmare compared to dedicated T-2 or A-4 squadrons in Texas and Mississippi, which meant we didn't have great aircraft availability, but it was still a great billet to get as a stud or instructor. The IP's in Texas and Meridian got a lot more flight time, but then again they had to live in Meridian, Beeville or Kingsville. We had quite a few IP's qual'ed in both aircraft. Since almost 75% of the studs were fleet experienced NFO's out of strike aircraft, it was like having a fleet ready room ashore.
VT-4 flew T-2C's, while VT-10 had T-2B's. When I flew midshipmen in jet orientation flights in the summer of '84, we did it via VT-10, so it was a little bit of a transition to the T-2B, mostly because of the power difference (a little less responsive on the ball). But since we had no other assigned duties, no duty officer requirements, a three day work week, our own dedicated jets, dedicated airspace, dedicated fuel truck, priority on takeoff to everyone but the Blue Angels, and flew four hops before 1300 (in time to get some water skiing or beach time in every day) Monday through Wednesday, we really didn't care about the power difference. The five of us knew a good deal when we had it, so we never bitched a bit.