Official VMM-363 Rule the Night Shoulder Patches

Official VMM-363 Rule the Night Shoulder Patches — From Atomic Blasts to Aloha State Ospreys, the Red Lions Own the Dark

If it flies in the Pacific and carries Marines, there's a good chance the Red Lions built the playbook.

Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 363 (VMM-363) — the 'Lucky Red Lions' — carries a lineage forged in the Korean War, tested in the jungles of Vietnam, and proven across every major conflict since. Activated on June 2, 1952, at Marine Corps Air Station Santa Ana, California, as Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron 363 (HMR-363), the squadron was born from the demands of the Korean War and immediately began pushing the boundaries of Marine rotary-wing aviation. In 1953, flying the Sikorsky HRS-1, the Red Lions took part in Operation Desert Rock — the first atomic test to use ground troops — operating helicopters in the shadow of a nuclear detonation. The squadron deployed to Vietnam in August 1965 and on September 1st flew its first combat missions, conducting troop inserts with HMM-161 to move the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines into a landing zone south of Da Nang. The Red Lions developed close ties with Republic of Korea forces during Operation Flying Tiger, airlifting the Tiger Division to Hill 78 in what was viewed as the most successful Korean offensive of the war to that date. Operations intensified following the 1968 Tet Offensive. March 26, 1968, was the squadron's darkest day — during a rocket attack five members were wounded and required medevac, but the evacuation aircraft lost its engine and crashed along the coast of Vietnam, killing seven Marines including the commanding officer. The Red Lions pressed on, redeployed to California in January 1969, and transitioned to the CH-53A Sea Stallion as HMH-363. In October 1972, the squadron became the first Marine unit to receive the powerful CH-53D. The Red Lions provided humanitarian relief in the Philippines after a devastating earthquake and flood in 1990, participated in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in 1992, and relocated to Marine Corps Air Facility Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, in August 1996. From 2006 to 2009, HMH-363 deployed twice to Al Asad, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, flying 848.8 hours in a single month during their first rotation. The squadron was deactivated on May 10, 2012, and redesignated VMM-363, activating as an MV-22B Osprey squadron at MCAS Miramar before completing three combat deployments and returning to its roots at Marine Corps Base Hawaii under Marine Aircraft Group 24 and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. In 2022, the Lucky Red Lions executed one of the longest maritime VMM self-deployment flights in 1st MAW history, covering 4,730 nautical miles from Hawaii to the Philippines. This 'Rule the Night' shoulder patch honors a squadron that has operated in darkness — literal and figurative — for over seven decades.

Perfect For: VMM-363 and HMH-363 Lucky Red Lions veterans past and present, MV-22 Osprey and CH-53 Sea Stallion crew members, MAG-24 and 1st MAW personnel, MCB Hawaii Marines, Vietnam-era helicopter crews, and anyone who has served with the Red Lions from Santa Ana to Kaneohe Bay.