USAF F-101 Voodoo Patch

[Sudzman]

 My father was an Airforce TAC navigator who flew the F-101, as well as many other fighter jets. He also served his tour in Vietnam in the F-4.

He has since passed away, but he gave me many of his patches.  This is one of them.

[Randy]

That's great to have such a neat patch with family history. You should look around for the 414Th tab that also came with it I posted on the first page. He should have worn this at Oxnard AFB with the 437th FIS.

 

Randy

[Sudzman]

Thanks Randy, and yes, he was stationed in Oxnard, Ca at the time.  Later we went to Oskoda, MI, Nellis, NV, and Hill, UT..  They were testing/dogfighting the F-16 verses the F-4 at that time (in Nevada). 

Just a year before he passed, he said it was no longer classified and told me that he was one of two airplanes that were scrambled with live nukes in Florida during the Cuban missies crisis.  He said they were subsequently told to return to base, but had to burn off fuel first.

I am guessing that it must have been the F-101.

Any thoughts or insight?

 

[Sudzman]

A picture of my dad back in the day, and a photo of one of his fellow pilots (in the cowboy hat) at the same party.  I took these still shots from an old 8mm home video. 

[Randy]

1 hour ago, Sudzman said:

Thanks Randy, and yes, he was stationed in Oxnard, Ca at the time.  Later we went to Oskoda, MI, Nellis, NV, and Hill, UT..  They were testing/dogfighting the F-16 verses the F-4 at that time (in Nevada). 

Just a year before he passed, he said it was no longer classified and told me that he was one of two airplanes that were scrambled with live nukes in Florida during the Cuban missies crisis.  He said they were subsequently told to return to base, but had to burn off fuel first.

I am guessing that it must have been the F-101.

Any thoughts or insight?

 

Yes, the F-101 carried the Douglas AIR-2 Genie nuclear rocket. This was an unguided air-to-air rocket with a 1.5 kt W25 nuclear warhead. Meant to take out bomber formations. The F-106 and the F-89 also could carry one. Most 101s on alert were armed with one back in those days.

 

Randy

[Randy]

Here's some 437 FIS patches. The top left from 1953 with the F-94.

 

Randy

[Sudzman]

That’s great info!  That third from the left is the patch from my dad’s collection.

[Randy]

That would have been their last version in the later 60s. The made a brief conversion to the F-106 and shut down in 1968.

 

Randy

[Sudzman]

That’s great info!  That third from the left is the patch from my dad’s collection.

Here’s a photo of a framed set of his patches I have at my home.

[Randy]

Very nice to have such a complete set of your dad's patches. All too often these are scattered to the four corners of the earth. From what I gather here, he was a navigator and later transitioned to the F-4. He also served an SEA tour with the 25 TFS out of Ubon or maybe Udorn depending on what time he got there. Let me know if you need help with IDs on any of those; great to see those.

 

Randy

[Sudzman]

Thanks Randy!  I do remember he was in Ubon, Thailand.  I was just a little kid, so I don’t remember the timeline.

Any idea what the Playboy patch or what looks like a purple fox patches are? I’ve never seen them before.

what patches are from the SEA tour with the 25 TFS?

[Randy]

The nametag with the 25th TFS Dragon on it would be from SEA. The blue fox patch is the 18th FIS, and could be from Alaska, Michigan or North Dakota as they moved a lot in the later 50s. The D Flight (Playboy) patch is normally associated with the 54th FIS at Ellsworth AFB, SD. I don't see any other 54th stuff though.

 

Randy

[Sudzman]

Thanks again Randy, you are a wealth of knowledge.

I have a couple of his silk neckerchiefs.  Can you identify what the leather tooled item with the chain would have been used for?  By design, I assume it was worn around the neck.  I’ve always wondered.

[Randy]

Maybe a bottle/cup holder? Worn with the party suits that were popular at the time possibly. Things were a bit different back then, more low-tech. These items belong to the 422 Fighter Weapons Sq. at Nellis. That would be the green bat patch on the left of your display. As you can see by the pin, they flew the F-4. These would date to the 70s I would say.

 

Randy

[Sudzman]

You have the same thought as I.  “Emergency beer” party accessory to match the 422 motif.  The yellow and black checkers are distinctive. And we were stationed at Nellis in the 70’s.

I have so many other items that were given to me upon his death I don’t know where to start or what is what.  I really appreciate your assistance. I may reach out to you again!

[Randy]

No problem, feel free to PM me if you want. I don't mind helping, I know well the frustrations of having things but not knowing what they are. I did 26 years in the USAF working on fighters and have been collecting since about 84. If I don't know I usually know someone that does.

 

Randy

[Sudzman]

Just want to say happy 4th of July to all of the patriots out there!  Aloha!

[Sudzman]

Randy, how do I go about PM you in this forum, as I may reach out to you in the future?

[SFC]

Hi Sudzman. Hold the cursor over Randy's name and press message

[Randy]

Thanks SFC. Sudzman, I just sent you a PM so hopefully that helps.

 

Randy

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Hi everyone, 

I have seen another variation of the tribal F101 Voodoo patch, where it is written "Scope-Wizard" . I was told this was for the back seater / RIO

 

What about the version where it is written "One-O-Wonder" ? Is this the version for the pilot?

Thanks for your help

[Randy]

Pad, there are many variations. OOW with wings is for the pilot, the one with tools was for crew chiefs. scope wizard could have wings or lightning bolts for the backseaters in the B/F model. then there are about 20 more for other jobs on the F-101.

 

Randy

[Randy]

This is many of the variations out there, but there are more! Yes, collecting is a sickness...

 

Randy

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Many thanks Randy!