Official US Navy LSO Landing Safety Officer Shoulder Patch — US Navy Landing Signal Officer (LSO) Carrier Aviation Embroidered Patch
The voice in the headset on every approach — paddles to deck, every trap, every launch.
The Landing Signal Officer (LSO) — historically called the Landing Safety Officer in earlier eras of US Navy carrier aviation — is the carrier-qualified naval aviator stationed on the LSO platform on the port side aft of the angled flight deck whose job is to control, grade, and as needed wave off every fixed-wing aircraft attempting to recover aboard a US Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious assault ship. The LSO community traces its lineage to the early 1920s aboard USS Langley (CV-1) when carrier landings were first signaled with paddles — "paddles" remains the LSO callsign on the carrier today. Each LSO is a fleet-experienced strike-fighter, EA-18G, E-2, or C-2 pilot who completes the LSO School at NAS Oceana, then progresses through Squadron LSO, Wing LSO, and ultimately CAG LSO and Staff LSO billets, qualified to wave each aircraft type embarked aboard the carrier — F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, F-35C Lightning II, E-2D Hawkeye, and C-2A Greyhound (legacy). The LSO grades every recovery — OK, Fair, No Grade, Cut, Bolter — and those grades, called passes, accumulate into Greenie Board rankings used by every air wing to identify and develop pilots. From sunset CQs in the workups to the deepest wave-off in heavy weather, the LSO is the last and final voice in every carrier pilot's headset. This LSO shoulder patch carries the legacy of the platform, the paddle, and the call.
Perfect For: Active and qualified US Navy and Marine Corps LSOs, Squadron LSOs, Wing LSOs, CAG LSOs, and Staff LSOs, NAS Oceana LSO School graduates, carrier-qualified F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, F-35C Lightning II, E-2D Hawkeye, and C-2A Greyhound pilots, US Navy carrier aviation community supporters, and families of carrier-deployed naval aviators.
LSO — paddles to deck, every trap.
