Official VMFA-212 Lancers F-18C Leather Shoulder Patch - Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212 (VMFA-212) F/A-18C Hornet leather shoulder patch, officially representing one of the most decorated fighter-attack squadrons in Marine Corps aviation history.
Lancers identity, forward-deployed precision, and sixty-six years of Marine fighter-attack heritage pressed into premium leather.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212 was activated on 1 March 1942 at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa, Hawaii, and earned its first combat record flying F4F Wildcats during the Guadalcanal campaign. The squadron adopted the Lancers name in 1963 when it transitioned to the F-8 Crusader, a callsign tied to the medieval theme of the aircraft and carried through every subsequent platform. In April 1965 the Lancers sailed aboard USS Oriskany, becoming the first Marine jet squadron deployed aboard an aircraft carrier in combat. After transitioning through the F-4 Phantom II, the squadron received the F/A-18C Hornet in the late 1980s and deployed to Bahrain in December 1990, flying air interdiction and close air support missions during Operation Desert Storm. Permanently forward-deployed to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, under Marine Aircraft Group 12 and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, the Lancers also flew combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom before the squadron was decommissioned in 2008 to facilitate the Marine Corps transition to the F-35. This leather shoulder patch captures the F/A-18C era identity of a squadron that flew combat sorties across five conflicts over more than six decades.
Perfect for VMFA-212 veterans, F/A-18C Hornet aircrew and maintainers, Marine Aircraft Group 12 alumni, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing collectors, MCAS Iwakuni station veterans, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom commemorators, shadow box builders, flight jacket displays, patch panel collections, and family members honoring a Marine who flew or supported the Lancers during any era of the squadron's long forward-deployed history.
Lancers lineage, cut in leather, built to last as long as the history it carries.
