Official VFA-147 Argonauts 2017 Inherent Resolve Cruise Patch

Official VFA-147 Argonauts 2017 Inherent Resolve Cruise Patch — Three Months of Combat Over the Caliphate

The Argonauts went to war aboard Nimitz in 2017 — and this patch flew every sortie.

Strike Fighter Squadron 147 (VFA-147), the 'Argonauts,' deployed aboard USS Nimitz (CVN-68) with Carrier Air Wing 11 in 2017 for what would be the squadron's final deployment flying the F/A-18E Super Hornet before making history as the Navy's first operational F-35C Lightning II squadron. During the 2017 cruise, the Argonauts supported three months of sustained combat operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility in direct support of Operation Inherent Resolve, striking ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria as coalition forces closed in on the remnants of the so-called caliphate. VFA-147's lineage stretches back to February 1, 1967, when the squadron was commissioned at NAS Lemoore as the Navy's first A-7A Corsair II squadron. The Argonauts — named for the mythological band of heroes who sailed with Jason in pursuit of the Golden Fleece — flew their first combat missions over North Vietnam from USS Ranger in December 1967, amassing five combat deployments during the war. After transitioning to the F/A-18C Hornet in 1989, they became the first operational squadron to employ Night Attack Hornets and NAV FLIR pods, deployed to the Persian Gulf for Desert Storm, flew combat patrols over Los Angeles after 9/11, and struck Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. Multiple Battle 'E' Awards and the Captain Michael J. Estocin Award cemented the Argonauts as one of the Navy's premier strike fighter squadrons. This 2017 OIR cruise patch marks the end of one era and the beginning of another — the last Hornet deployment before VFA-147 became synonymous with the F-35C.