USN F14 TOMCAT TOP GUN FIGHTER Sqn Shoulder Sleeve Insignia VF-154 Black Knights

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USN F14 TOMCAT TOP GUN FIGHTER Sqn SSI Shoulder Sleeve Insignia: VF-154 Black Knights PATCH
This is a very special USN F14 TOMCAT TOP GUN FIGHTER Sqn SSI Shoulder Sleeve Insignia: VF-154 Black Knights PATCH. You will receive the item as shown in the first photo.  Other items in other pictures are for your reference only, available in my eBay Store.
Strike Fighter Squadron 154 (VFA-154), also known as the "Black Knights", is a United States Navy strike fighter squadron stationed at Naval Air Station Lemoore. The Black Knights are an operational fleet squadron flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet. They are currently attached to Carrier Air Wing Eleven and deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68). Their tailcode is NH and their callsign is "Knight". Between 1999 and 2002, VF-154 would participate in five deployments in the Pacific as well as the Indian Ocean. In 2001, CVW-5 flew more than 600 missions and 100 combat sorties in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2003, VF-154 would make their last cruise with the F-14, this time in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This would be the first time CVW-5 would deploy to the Persian Gulf since 1999. USS Kitty Hawk arrived on station on February 26 and CVW-5 was chosen to be the dedicated Close Air Support wing. VF-154 deployed with 12 F-14As and detached five F-14As and five air crews to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar where these F-14s and its crews would work closely with Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado’s, USAF F-15E’s, F-16CGs and F-16CJs and Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18As. CENTCOM had contacted CVW-5 and specifically asked for the air wing to deploy Forward Air Controller capable Tomcats and crews to support coalition land-based aircraft as well as Special Forces squads operating inside Iraq. The F-14s were usually paired with the aircraft already deployed to the airbase, dropping bomb themselves or guiding other aircraft bombs. The aircrews would fly daily missions and in one 48-hour period the VF-154 detachment flew 14 sorties totalling 100 hours of flight time. The crews at Al Udeid flew more than 300 combat hours and delivered 50 000 pounds of ordnance, (98 GBU-12s) during the 21-day stay at the airbase. On April 1, 2003, VF-154 lost one of its aircraft over southern Iraq when it suffered a single engine and fuel transfer system failure which caused the remaining engine to run dry. The crew, already two hours into its mission and having dropped some bombs, ejected and was soon picked up by an HH-60G helicopter. This F-14A was the first coalition aircraft to crash as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The remaining F-14s on USS Kitty Hawk, piloted mostly by junior officers, expended 246 GBU-12s, ten GBU-16s and four GBU-10s during 27 days of combat. By the end of the war, VF-154 had dropped 358 laser-guided bombs, buddy-lased 65 more and passed target coordinates for 32 JDAMs in 286 sorties. The squadron had expended more ordnance than any other unit in CVW-5, despite flying the oldest jets in the air wing. As USS Carl Vinson entered its overhaul cycle, CVW-9 and VFA-154 deployed to USS John C. Stennis. VFA-154 and CVW-9 embarked on a new deployment to the Persian Gulf in the spring of 2007 supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and a joint-military exercise off Guam called Valiant Shield.In September 2003 VF-154 left NAF Atsugi for the last time and ended their 13 years in Japan and 20 years in the Tomcat. A month later, VF-154 was redesignated VFA-154 at its new home at NAS Lemoore, California, and began transitioning to the Navy's newest strike fighter, the F/A-18F Super Hornet. The squadron completed its first Super Hornet cruise in the summer of 2005 aboard USS Carl Vinson, part of Carrier Air Wing 9 supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. On April 6, 2005, VFA-154 and VFA-147 dropped two 500-pound laser-guided bombs on enemy insurgent location east of Baghdad. VFA-154 and CVW-9 deployed with USS John C. Stennis on a scheduled Western Pacific deployment on January 13, 2009. VFA-154 and CVW-9 returned to the United States on July 6 after participating in exercises with Japan Maritime Self Defense Force and annual exercises as Foal Eagle with the Republic of Korea and joint exercise Northern Edge 2009. In October 2009 VFA-154 transitioned to the new F/A-18F Block II Lot 30/31A AN/APG-79 AESA radar Rhino. In 2010 the squadron re-located from Carrier Air Wing Nine to Carrier Air Wing Fourteen aboard USS Ronald Reagan and departed on their 2011 deployment on February 2. In March VFA-154 found itself in the familiar waters of Northern Japan supporting the tsunami relief efforts as part of Operation Tomodachi. The squadron flew reconnaissance flights identifying groups of survivors later to be rescued by CVW-14 Helicopters. Early to mid 2011 took the squadron to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation New Dawn and Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively; as well as counter-piracy efforts throughout the Indian Ocean. The cruise was the final for CVW-14, bringing the squadron to CVW-11 aboard USS Nimitz in 2012.
They will make a great addition to your SSI Shoulder Sleeve Insignia collection. You find only US Made items here, with the same
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