Officially Licensed USMC HMH-361 Flying Tigers Leather Patch — Heavy Lift Since '52
If it's too heavy for anyone else, the Flying Tigers will carry it.
HMH-361 was commissioned on February 25, 1952, at MCAS Santa Ana as the Marine Corps' heavy-lift pioneers. The Flying Tigers earned their first combat deployment to Vietnam as one of the first helicopter units in-country during Operation Shufly, where their CO earned Marine Aviator of the Year honors for running resupply missions the Marines nicknamed "Ross's Rice Runners." The squadron later converted to the CH-53E Super Stallion in 1990 and made history as the first MEU to utilize a CH-53E squadron as its aviation nucleus. Based at MCAS Miramar under MAG-16, the Flying Tigers have deployed to every major conflict from Vietnam to Iraq and continue to carry the heaviest loads in Marine aviation. This leather patch carries the weight of seven decades of service.
Perfect For: HMH-361 Marines past and present, CH-53 pilots and crew chiefs, heavy-lift community members, and anyone who knows that when it absolutely has to get there — you call the Tigers.
Seven decades of lifting everything the Marines need — the Flying Tigers never put it down.
