Patches from Black Projects

I know in Naval aviation we had a lot of fun with our deployment patches. Whenever a detachment would deploy, the guys on that deployment get to design their own patch and stickers. I know of one helicopter squadron that were The Ducks. If they landed on your boat it was common knowledge that right before take off, a crew member would hop out and stamp your flight deck with a duck foot covered in yellow paint.

We once had an Army helicopter land on our ship and the pilot made the mistake of taking his helmet off and leaving it in our hanger. Of course we covered it in our det stickers. I also left these stickers in a few South American countries.

Usually when you design the patch you put as much inside joke things as you can along with info such as the mission, the date, the home squadron, etc. I love to see the patches from the more secretive squadrons and black projects. You can safely bet that they are poking fun with most of the crap they put on there but is there also some truth hidden in these patches?

Take for example this patch from the Manhatten Project currently housed at the Los Alomos Historical Society.



Anyone at the time looking at that probably wouldn't be able to figure out what they were doing. But now it's much more clear.

Blue: Symbolizes the Universe
White Cloud & Lightning Bolt: Forms a question mark which symbolizes the unknown results and secret nature of the program.
Split Yellow Atom: Represents atomic fission and confidence that the Manhattan Project would be successful
Red & Blue Star: Insignia of the Army Service Forces

This is obviously from the Janet flights that carry employees into Area 51 every day





Here we have a patch allegedly used by the 22nd Military Airlift Squadron.

This unit conducted late night operations picking up classified aircraft from aerospace plants in Southern California and delivering them to classified locations for testing and evaluation. Link

The NOYFB is pretty obvious: None Of Your F-ing Business.



The minatour is supposedly a classified Lockhead Martin Skunk Works project that was spun off of Minion





The Latin phrase in this patch from Flight Test Unit 509 means "Taste Like Chicken"

The patch for the classified flight test unit 509, the same unit involved in the infamous Roswell incident, includes a reference to an old Twilight Zone episode in which aliens ate humans. The patch shows an alien appearing to hold a stealth fighter near its mouth.

This one is obviously in your face spy stuff. "No Country Too Sovereign"





"Better the Devil Whom You Know". Love to hear your theories on this one





A few more and a link to more below.



Nobody Kicks Ass Without Tanker Gas





Mystery Wire

Here are two...

One of my old squadrons At Travis AFB. Just basically classified cargo....NOYFB type cargo...lol



This one I'm sure no one here has a clue to what it means... kind of got its name from a famous 70s porn movie Behind the Green Door... But this is located at Randolph AFB and is actually a real Green door and behind it is where all classified positions in the Air Force are managed.

a reply to: Xtrozero

kind of got its name from a famous 70s porn movie Behind the Green Door.

That's hilarious. The Green door is a perfect example of what I mean by mostly inside jokes mixed with some truth.

That "Better The Devil Whom You Know" patch obviously refers to the first Delta IV Heavy launch from Vandenberg, which occurred in January of 2011, out of Space Launch Complex #6 (i.e., SLC-6). It was a a Keyhole 11 spy sat for NRO and was successful.

The images seem to suggest a Phoenix, rising from the flames, which would imply that the mission somehow represented a success coming after a failure. a reply to: FauxMulder

A thread much like the ATS of old, it's really good to see.

The military patches have always been interesting and theres a few threads around here showing a few.

How are the designs picked for these patches?, do the people who are part of that project have a part in the design? ..... some really get you thinking.

originally posted by: Catch_a_Fire
How are the designs picked for these patches?, do the people who are part of that project have a part in the design? ..... some really get you thinking.

I was never part of any black projects but I know with each detachment I deployed on, we got to design are own patches. Of course it had to be approved by the higher ups before we could print them. I'm sure it works much the same way for these guys.

a reply to: FauxMulder

I like the idea of that, it explains how they can use humour in the design.

Cool thread! I love the Minitaur patch.
Popular Mechanics did a story a couple years ago on Spy satellite mission patches.
The NRO apparently is into dragons and wizards and such. I love it.


ETA: The MysteryWire site is very cool. Thanks.

a reply to: FauxMulder

Not a black project, but a black humour patch created by RCAF and also worn by Navy pilots.

a reply to: Atsbhct

This may be my favorite patch I've ever seen. The helicopters i worked on were old as dirt so I love the sentiment here.

ETA. One of our pilots had a good one that said "maverick can't hover"

a reply to: ColeYounger

Thanks for the link thats a good one. Mystery wire is pretty cool I think George Knapp owns it.

a reply to: FauxMulder

As you can imagine, the higher higher ups were not impressed. 😂

Here are a few of my old ones

They actually use Spy vs Spy for one! That's awesome, was a favorite comic strip as a lad.

a reply to: FauxMulder

I love these threads when they pop up every few years, reminds me of the good old days with zorgon and John Lear.

Thank You for this,

S&F



Sincerely,
~meathead

I think the green door...is the entrance to the underground research labs and machine works under area 51.

I absolutely LOVE this thread.... ha ha. It does a great job of illustrating exactly why I love our military. Such a kick ass sense of humor and irony.....it's a beautiful thing.

Goat Suckers designates the Q-Unit of the 4452nd Test Squadron, charged in the early 1980s with testing and evaluating a growing squadron of top-secret stealth fighters at the Tonopah Test Range.

Fun times...

a reply to: Xtrozero

Speaking of "Green Door" the 1956 hit song is about a man who couldn't get into a party raging behind a green door.

Not secret but the luckiest Squadron I been in 777