Officially Licensed VMU-1 Watchdogs Leather Patch — Eyes in the Sky Since '87
You can't hide from the Watchdogs. They see everything.
VMU-1 was born on January 21, 1987, as 1st Remotely Piloted Vehicle Company at Twentynine Palms, California, making it one of the Marine Corps' earliest drone units. After supporting Joint Task Force Six drug interdiction operations and deploying to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1996 as the first 3rd MAW unit in theater, the Watchdogs went on to fly Pioneer UAVs over Baghdad — the first Marine UAV over the Iraqi capital — logging over 1,400 flight hours and relocating eight times during the invasion. In 2007, VMU-1 became the first Marine squadron to fly the RQ-7 Shadow in combat. Then in the fall of 2021, the Watchdogs made history again as the first operationally ready MQ-9A Reaper squadron in the United States Marine Corps, ushering the service into the medium-altitude, long-endurance UAV era. Based at MCAS Yuma under MAG-13, the Watchdogs remain at the cutting edge of Marine aviation.
Perfect For: VMU-1 operators and maintainers, MQ-9 Reaper crews, MAG-13 and 3rd MAW personnel, and anyone who believes the best pilot might not be in the cockpit.
The Watchdogs are always watching.
