Official VMMT-204 Red Stripe Patch — The Only School That Teaches You to Fly Like Nothing Else
There is one place on Earth where pilots learn to fly the Osprey — and the Raptors run it.
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Training Squadron 204, the "Raptors," is the sole Fleet Replacement Squadron for the MV-22 Osprey in the United States Marine Corps. Based at MCAS New River, North Carolina under MAG-26 and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, VMMT-204 trains every Marine and Navy Osprey pilot, crew chief, and maintenance technician before they join the fleet. The squadron traces its roots to May 1, 1972, when Marine Helicopter Training Group 40 was deactivated and its component squadrons were merged to form HMT-204. For nearly three decades, HMT-204 was a composite training powerhouse — first teaching CH-46 and CH-53 pilots, then becoming the single-site Fleet Readiness Squadron for the entire Marine Corps CH-46E community in 1993, the largest Sea Knight squadron in the Corps. The unit amassed over 95,000 CH-46 Class A mishap-free flight hours and earned the Chief of Naval Operations Safety Award three times. In 1999, the squadron transitioned to the revolutionary MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor and was redesignated VMMT-204, accepting its first Osprey on March 12, 2000. After a grounding period, VMMT-204 resumed flight operations in 2005 and has since trained every Osprey pilot flying in Marine and Air Force tiltrotor squadrons worldwide. This Red Stripe patch variant represents "Osprey University" — the one squadron that bridges the gap between helicopter and fixed-wing flight.
Perfect For: VMMT-204 Raptors instructors and graduates, MV-22 Osprey pilots and crew chiefs, MAG-26 and 2nd MAW Marines, MCAS New River personnel, and anyone who earned their Osprey wings through the Raptors pipeline.
