US Navy VAW-124 Bear Aces Leather Patch
Airborne Command & Control Squadron 124 (VAW-124) – "The Bear Aces"
Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 124 was commissioned on 1 September 1967 and originally nicknamed the "Bullseye Hummers." Assigned to Attack Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW-7), the squadron first deployed aboard USS Independence in 1968 before embarking on USS America for extended Western Pacific deployments during the Vietnam War. In June 1972, VAW-124 sailed aboard USS America for 147 combat days and seven line periods in the Gulf of Tonkin, remaining on station when the Paris Peace Accords were signed on 28 January 1973. The squadron's defining moment came in December 1980, when it received immediate deployment orders to NAS Keflavik, Iceland, where its crews directed numerous intercepts of Soviet TU-95 "Bear" reconnaissance aircraft—earning the legendary nickname "Bear Aces" that the squadron carries to this day.
On 19 August 1981, during the Gulf of Sidra incident, F-14 Tomcats under the control of a VAW-124 Hawkeye intercepted and shot down two Libyan SU-22 fighter aircraft, demonstrating the deadly effectiveness of the Hawkeye-Tomcat team. The Bear Aces tracked hijacked TWA Flight 847 across the Mediterranean in June 1985, and during Operation Desert Storm in January 1991, they flew 331 combat sorties and over 1,150 combat hours in support of 1,220 strikes against 531 targets in the Kuwait Theater—the most combat hours and sorties of any E-2C squadron, with over 750 combat hours logged in a single thirty-day period. The squadron earned the 1991 AEW Excellence Award as the Navy's finest E-2C squadron. VAW-124 continued its distinguished service through operations over Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan (OEF), and Iraq, and in 2014 provided tactical command and control during the initial strikes of Operation Inherent Resolve against ISIS. The squadron transitioned from the E-2C Hawkeye 2000 to the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye in 2021 and is currently attached to Carrier Air Wing 8 (CVW-8) at NAS Norfolk.
Perfect For: VAW-124 veterans and active-duty Bear Aces, CVW-8 and CVW-7 alumni, E-2 Hawkeye community aviators and NFOs, Cold War Soviet intercept veterans, and carrier airborne early warning collectors.
This leather patch honors one of the Navy's most combat-proven airborne early warning squadrons—from intercepting Soviet Bears in the North Atlantic to directing precision strikes over the deserts of Iraq.
