USN fc VF 151 Fighter Squadron Patch F 4 Phantom US Navy Aviation

US Navy Aviation VF 151 Fighter Squadron Vigilantes F 4 Phantom 1980s NAF Atsugi Japan USS Midway Fully embroidered cut edge 99mm by 95mm three and fifteen sixteenth inches by three and three quarter inches.

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History

Fighter Squadron VF 151 Fighter Squadron Vigilantes was established on 23 February 1959 on the redesignation of VF 23 equipped with F3H 2 Demon all weather fighter with home base of NAS Moffett Field assigned to Carrier Air Group 15. The Squadron relocated to NAS Miramar and undertook WestPac deployments aboard USS Coral Sea CV 43.

VF 151 reequipped with F 4B Phantom fighters in January 1964 deploying for combat operations over Vietnam from December 1964 to November 1965. The Squadron returned to Southeast Asia on their second Vietnam combat deployment in December 1966 aboard USS Constellation CV 64 followed by their third aboard USS Coral Sea from July 1967 to April 1968 which included operations off the coast of Korea during March 1968 following the capture of USS Pueblo by North Korea. VF 151 deployed for combat over Vietnam in September 1968 and September 1969 with Carrier Air Wing 15 CVW 15 aboard USS Coral Sea and in April 1971 and April 1972 with Carrier Air Wing 5 CVW 5 aboard USS Midway.

The Squadron upgraded to F 4N Phantom fighters in March 1973 and relocated to NAF Atsugi on 5 October 1973 deploying for Yankee Station off Vietnam on 1 April 1975 with Combat Air Patrols undertaken in response to the North Vietnamese advance to the Fall of Saigon. VF 151 undertook patrol operations along the Korean DMZ in August and September 1976 following the murder of US military personnel in the DMZ by the North Korean military.

VF 151 upgraded to F 4J Phantom fighters in August 1977. The Squadron deployed aboard USS Midway to the Indian Ocean diverting to the Gulf of Aden in response to the outbreak of war in the Yemen and the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979 and its 1980 deployment to the Indian Ocean included a diversion to station in the Gulf of Oman following the Iranian seizure of the American Embassy in Teheran. The Squadron upgraded to F 4S Phantom fighters in December 1980.  

VF 151 undertook its final F 4 embarkation on USS Midway ending on 24 March 1986 and relocated to NAS Lemoore California reequipping with the F A 18 Hornet fighter and was redesignated VFA Strike Fighter Squadron 151 on 1 June 1986 returning to NAF Atsugi aboard USS Midway. The Squadron embarked on USS Midway and operating in the Sea of Japan during the Summer Olympics in Seoul South Korea in September 1988 and deployed to Station off the Philippines during an attempted coup in December 1989.

The Squadron deployed aboard USS Midway in October 1990 in support of Operation Desert Shield and participated in the initial air strikes on 17 January 1991 and continued operations throughout Desert Storm. VFA 151 departed NAF Atsugi aboard USS Midway In August 1991 for NS Pearl Harbor Hawaii on USS Midways last cruise. The Squadron relocated to NAS Lemoore California transferring to CVW 2 upgrading to upgraded FA 18C Hornet in February 1993. 

VFA 151 embarked on USS Constellation CV 64 for a cruise from the US East Coast around Cape Horn South America to the carriers new homeport of San Diego California. The Squadron embarked on USS Constellation for WestPac deployments in support of Operation Southern Watch for Combat Air Patrols to enforce the UN no fly zone over southern Iraq in 1994 to 1995 1997 and 1999 and embarked for Operation Southern Watch deployment aboard USS Constellation in November 2002 undertaking combat operations for Operation Iraqi Freedom the invasion of Iraq returning with the carrier on 7 August 2003 which was then decommissioned in San Diego.

VFA 151 along with CVW 2 moved to the USS Abraham Lincoln CVN 72 and deployed on its first WESTPAC Surge in support of the US Navy Fleet Response Plan in October 2004 participating in Operation Unified Assistance the humanitarian relief effort to assist survivors of the Boxing Day tsunami that struck Southeast Asia on 26 December 2004. The Squadron embarked on USS Abraham Lincoln in March 2008 deploying in support of Operations Enduring Freedom Afghanistan and Iraqi Freedom Iraq undertaking combat ground attack missions in both war zones. VFA 151 embarked on USS Abraham Lincoln in October 2010 and undertook combat operations supporting Operation New Dawn over Libya and Operation Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan returning in March 2011. The Squadron again embarked on USS Abraham Lincoln in December 2011 for a surge deployment for Operation Enduring Freedom undertaking combat operations returning in August 2012. 

VFA 151 upgraded to F A 18E Super Hornets in February 2013 and was reassigned from CVW 2 to CVW 9 attached to USS John C Stennis on the 1 June 2013.

This patch dates from 1980s.