Official HMH-464 Condors Deactivation Shoulder Patch

Official HMH-464 Condors Deactivation Shoulder Patch — The First CH-53E Squadron to Stand Up, Now Standing Down

The Condors were the first to receive the Super Stallion. They carried every load the Marine Corps asked them to carry.

Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 (HMH-464) — the 'Condors' — was one of the Marine Corps' most historically significant heavy-lift helicopter squadrons, having been the first CH-53E Super Stallion squadron to stand up in the Fleet Marine Force. Activated at MCAS New River, North Carolina, on March 1, 1981, with a lineage tracing back to Marine Scout Bomber Squadron 464 (VMSB-464), which was activated in April 1944 at MCAS El Toro during World War II, HMH-464 was tasked with receiving and introducing the CH-53E Super Stallion to the Fleet Marine Force. The Condors received the first production CH-53E aircraft in mid-1981 and commenced full fleet support in 1983. Under MAG-29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the Condors made history multiple times — flying non-stop from Yuma, Arizona, to New River using aerial refueling to cover 1,870 miles, deploying six CH-53Es via C-5 aircraft to Bardufoss, Norway, for Exercise Cold Winter, and establishing forward area refueling points on austere island sites. When Iraq invaded Kuwait, HMH-464 deployed eight CH-53Es and 84 Marines to the Persian Gulf in August 1990, flying 304 combat sorties during Desert Storm and delivering over 2.1 million pounds of cargo. In May 1995, a Condors detachment assigned to the 24th MEU executed the TRAP mission that rescued downed F-16C pilot Captain Scott O'Grady from war-torn Bosnia. After 9/11, the Condors deployed 16 CH-53Es to Kuwait for Operation Iraqi Freedom in January 2003, flying over 2,300 hours, 1,086 combat sorties, transporting 4.7 million pounds of cargo and 6,751 passengers while covertly inserting and extracting Force Reconnaissance teams. The squadron provided Katrina relief, deployed to Djibouti, and supported multiple MEU rotations across three decades. This deactivation shoulder patch marks the end of the Condors' chapter — the first CH-53E squadron to stand up, and now standing down as the Marine Corps transitions to the CH-53K King Stallion era.

Perfect For: HMH-464 Condors Marines past and present, CH-53E Super Stallion crew members and maintainers, MAG-29 and 2nd MAW personnel, MCAS New River Marines, Scott O'Grady rescue participants, and anyone who served with the squadron that introduced the Super Stallion to the fleet.