{"product_id":"official-vfa-154-black-knights-80th-anniversary-patch-1","title":"Official VFA-154 Black Knights 80th Anniversary Patch","description":"\u003cp\u003eOfficial VFA-154 Black Knights 80th Anniversary Patch - Strike Fighter Squadron 154 (VFA-154) U.S. Navy 80th Anniversary Commemorative Embroidered Patch, honoring eight decades of continuous service from 1946 to 2026.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlack Knights Rule — eighty years of carrier aviation, combat deployments, and strike fighter identity carried on a single embroidered emblem.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVFA-154 traces its lineage to Naval Reserve squadron VFB-718, activated on July 1, 1946, at Naval Air Station Floyd Bennett, New York, flying the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair. After redesignations through VF-68A and VF-837, the unit flew combat missions during the Korean War aboard USS Antietam in the F9F-2 Panther. The Black Knights name and iconic insignia — a silver armored knight on a black field, with the final design drawn by renowned cartoonist Milton Caniff — took hold when the squadron transitioned to the F-8 Crusader in the late 1950s and began flying night-capable missions. The squadron later flew the F-4 Phantom II through Vietnam, transitioned to the F-14A Tomcat in 1983, and became the Navy's first forward-deployed Tomcat squadron in Japan following Operation Desert Shield. In October 2003, the unit was redesignated VFA-154 at NAS Lemoore and transitioned to the F\/A-18F Super Hornet, the aircraft it flies today with Carrier Air Wing Eleven. The 80th anniversary patch marks that full arc — from Hellcats off New York to Super Hornets off nuclear carriers — with the squadron motto BKR, Black Knights Rule, woven into every thread.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePerfect For: VFA-154 veterans and active-duty aircrew, F-14 Tomcat and F\/A-18F Super Hornet enthusiasts, naval aviation collectors, CVW-11 alumni, NAS Lemoore community members, anniversary commemorative displays, shadow boxes, cruise book collections, reunion gifts, and anyone building a serious U.S. Navy carrier aviation patch collection that spans the jet age from Korea through today's strike fighter era.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEighty years of Black Knights history, stitched into one commemorative patch worth keeping.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Military, Law Enforcement and Custom Patches by USMCinsignia.com","offers":[{"title":"With hook \u0026 loop","offer_id":45874828738669,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"No hook \u0026 loop","offer_id":45874828771437,"sku":null,"price":12.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0742\/9831\/files\/2E2F3266_EF1EF906.5BAE966A00000000.jpg?v=1789618656","url":"https:\/\/marinepatches.com\/products\/official-vfa-154-black-knights-80th-anniversary-patch-1","provider":"MarinePatches.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}