USMC a VMA 121 Attack Squadron AW Patch A 6 Intruder US Marine Corps Aviation

US Marine Corps Aviation Marine Attack Squadron VMA AW 121 All Weather Patch 1970s A 6 Intruder Green Knights Uniform removed Asian made Fully embroidered merrowed edge 95mm by 73mm three and three quarter inches by two and seven eighth inches.

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Cold War

Marine Attack Squadron VMA 121 Green Knights traded its F9F 8B Cougar attack aircraft for the A 4 Skyhawk in late 1958 and spent the next year training with the A 4 at NAS Fallon MCAS Yuma and China Lake becaming the first squadron to complete the entire special weapons delivery syllabus for nuclear weapons. In November 1962 the Green Knights deployed to NAS Cecil Field Florida as part of the response to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In August 1966 VMA 121 ferried their A 4 Skyhawks to Chu Lai Air Base Republic of Vietnam and supported 118 major operations. After six months of combat operations the Squadron rotated back to Iwakuni Japan and Naha Air Base Okinawa before returning to Chu Lai for another combat tour in September 1967. In early 1969 the Squadron was reconstituted at MCAS Cherry Point North Carolina equipped with A 6 Intruder all weather attack aircraft and was designated Marine Attack Squadron All Weather VMA AW 121 to reflect their capability of acquiring and destroying surface targets in any weather day or night with a wide variety of ordnance. The Green Knights were assigned at MCAS El Toro in the early 1980s.

On 8 December 1989 the Squadron reequipped F A 18D Night Attack Hornet aircraft and was redesignated as Marine Fighter Attack Squadron All Weather VMFA AW 121. Slightly over one year later the Squadron deployed in support of Operation Desert Storm flying 557 sorties and 1655 combat hours more than any other Navy or Marine Corps tactical jet squadron.

This patch dates from the 1970s.