Official VMMT-204 Raptors Cancer Awareness Patch

Official VMMT-204 Raptors Cancer Awareness Patch — Training Every Osprey Pilot, Fighting More Than One Battle

Every MV-22 pilot in the Marine Corps learned to fly the Osprey from the Raptors. This patch fights a different kind of fight.

Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron 204 (VMMT-204) — the 'Raptors' — is the only MV-22 Osprey training squadron in the world, and the single gateway through which every Marine, Navy, and Air Force Osprey pilot must pass before they can fly the tiltrotor in the fleet. Formed on May 1, 1972, at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, as Marine Medium Helicopter Training Squadron 204 (HMT-204), the unit was created by combining the deactivated Marine Medium Helicopter Training Squadron 402 and Marine Heavy Helicopter Training Squadron 401 after the Vietnam War. For over two decades, HMT-204 trained every CH-46E Sea Knight pilot and crew chief in the Marine Corps, eventually becoming the single-site Fleet Readiness Squadron for the entire CH-46E community after HMT-301 was deactivated in October 1993 — making it the largest CH-46E squadron in the Marine Corps. On June 10, 1999, the squadron turned a historic page when it was redesignated VMMT-204 and became the Fleet Replacement Squadron for the revolutionary MV-22 Osprey. The Raptors accepted their first Osprey on March 12, 2000, and began training the first generation of tiltrotor pilots. After a grounding period from 2000 to 2005 following two fatal mishaps, a dedicated cadre of Marines laid the foundation for the Osprey's return to flight, and on October 7, 2005, VMMT-204 resumed flight operations. Since then, the Raptors have trained hundreds of MV-22 pilots for every deploying Marine Corps Osprey squadron, the first USAF CV-22 squadron, and Navy CMV-22B units. Based at MCAS New River under Marine Aircraft Group 26 and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, VMMT-204 operates both Block A and Block B Ospreys and runs the only motion-based operational flight trainer for the platform. There is only one place in the world where you learn to fly the Osprey, and the Raptors run it. This cancer awareness patch channels the Raptors' fighting spirit toward a cause that hits close to home for military families everywhere.

Perfect For: VMMT-204 Raptors Marines and alumni, MV-22 Osprey student pilots and instructor pilots, MAG-26 and 2nd MAW personnel, MCAS New River Marines, cancer awareness supporters in the military community, and anyone who trained with the squadron that builds every Osprey pilot.