VP-8 Squadron Patches

[VP_Association]

From 1980 to 1983 I served on active duty in the Navy as a non-acoustic AW with Patrol Squadron 8 home-ported at NAS Brunswick, ME. Here's the PATRON EIGHT "rocker" that all enisted personnel wore on the shoulder of their uniforms while I was there.

 

[VP_Association]

VP-8's history goes back to before WW2 and the squadron has had many different insignia over the years. When I got to the squadron in 1980 many of the "old-timers" were still wearing this patch on their flight jackets. This particular design went out about a year or two before I arrived on the scene. I can't remember the name of the guy who gave it to me but recall that he was a radio operator on my first crew. He also gave me a beautiful old VP-8 ballcap with felt letters and embroidered "Tigers" on the back that had been handed down to him by the guy he replaced and which I lost (or had stolen from me) during a deployment to Rota, Spain. I really loved that cap!

 

[VP_Association]

About a year or two before I joined the squadron, VP-8 changed its insignia from the one shown in the previous posting to this one shown here. This insignia was designed by the squadron's public affairs petty officer, who was an AW3 at that time. He was literally on his way out of the Navy as I arrived. I actually took over the PAO from him as my first collateral duty (all aircrewmen had collateral duties to perform while on the ground) and he told me the story of how he designed the insignia. I even saw the original artwork. This patch is a little over 5 inches high.

 

[VP_Association]

During the time that I was in the squadron we wore these "flashes" on the right breast of our flight suits. The design shown here duplicated the insignia painted on the tails of our aircraft. When VP-8 transitioned from the P-3B to the P-3C in 1982 the CO had a contest for a new tail insignia. I submitted a tiger design that covered the entire tail kind of like the old VP-23 "seahawk". But, the majority of squadron members voted to keep the old insignia. Note, in my day every patrol squadron at NAS Brunswick had a small patch representing its aircraft's tail marking that aircrew wore on their flight suits.

 

[VP_Association]

Navy patrol plane crews traditionally commission crew patches for major deployments. This example here was commissioned by my crew, CAC-4, when we deployed to Rota Spain and Lajes Azores during 1980 and 1981. This patch was actually designed by my father. We were a bit dissapointed that the manufacturer used a blue gray for the submarine instead of the dark gray specified, making the sub look like a sock. We were always being asked, "why does your crew patch show a P-3 biting a sock?", and then we'd have to explain that its a submarine not a sock!

 

[VP_Association]

After the submarine/sock debacle I decided to take it upon myself to design a crew patch for our next deployment (to Bermuda) that would leave nothing to imagination. I produced two candidate designs. The crew was deadlocked on which design to have done up as patches so we ended up having both produced. This one was my favorite as it depicted a P-3 beating a Russian submarine to a bloody pulp! One of the guys on our crew, a new replacement who was a religious nut (later bounced out of the Navy), refused to wear this patch because it was too violent looking.

 

[VP_Association]

Here's the alternative VP-8 CAC-4 1982 Bermuda deployment patch. This one shows a Harpoon missile ripping through a Soviet flag. In retrospect, I should have shown the tip of the missile at the lower left hand corner to provide artistic balance for the tail fins at the top right hand corner. What did I know then at 20 or so and with zero artistic training!