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Weird military/government program patches

Deadweasel

By Deadweasel
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Deadweasel

Deadweasel

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[TD]Some of the government entities that operate here can be more than a little unnerving, unsettling or just downright weird.

When one gets a look at some of the mission patches they've come up with over the years, the goosebumps are almost inevitable, especially when you realize this: mission patches are to commemorate a particular program and participation in it. Most of these are extremely secretive projects, so did participating pilots get these patches? Why would any organization looking to keep something secret give participants something that could easily find its way outside the black veil? :huh:

Anyway, on with the crazy train!

(pulled from http://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/24/paglen.php)

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This is a program patch from the National Reconnaissance Office, the United States’ "black" space agency whose existence was a secret until the early 1990s (the agency was formed in the early 1960s).

DRAGON is an old code name within the BYEMAN information compartment for the infrared imaging capabilities on CRYSTAL (advanced KH-11) reconnaissance satellites.

paglen2.jpg

A National Reconnaissance Office program patch, whose referent remains entirely obscure. The Latin inscription translates as "Never before, never again."

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TENCAP is an acronym for Tactical Exploitation of National Capabilities, a collection of programs that involve developing tactical (battlefield) applications out of reconnaissance satellite capabilities (which are normally thought of as strategic).

"Special" almost invariably means "black" or highly classified. The phrase Oderint Dum Metuant is usually associated with Caligula, the first-century Roman emperor whose name became synonymous with depravity, madness, and tyranny. It translates as "Let them hate so long as they fear."

paglen4.jpg

The text of this patch roughly translates as "A Secret Squadron / From Deep in the Night / Don’t Ask Any Questions." This patch is or was probably worn by an obscure unit, operating out of a secret Air Force Base near Groom Lake (Area 51), Nevada, called the "Ghost Squadron." The single star in the southwest United States presumably designates the group’s operating location.

The Ghost Squadron may be a helicopter support and search-and-rescue team for test squadrons flying classified aircraft.

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Also based at Groom Lake, the Special Projects Flight Test Squadron is the Air Force’s premier "black" squadron for testing classified prototype aircraft.

The squadron’s mascot is a wizard. A collection of six stars (five plus one) on the patch is a reference to the unit’s operating location: the secret base known as Area 51.

The sigma symbol in the wizard’s right hand is a reference to the ideal radar signature of a stealth aircraft: zero.

On the right side of the patch, the falling globe references aluminum balls dropped from the sky to calibrate radar equipment. Lightning bolts, such as the one emanating from the wizard’s staff, often refer to electronic warfare.

The aircraft in the lower right is probably a generic symbol representing flight testing.

The sword at the bottom of the image refers to a recently declassified Boeing stealth demonstrator known as the "Bird of Prey": the handle on the sword approximates the shape of this prototype.

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This commemorative patch for a classified flight test of an F-22 Raptor aircraft at Groom Lake shares many symbols with the Special Projects Flight Test Squadron. The mascot here is a Raptor clothed in the garments of a wizard, with a sigma symbol hanging from the figure’s neck. The collection of six stars is again a reference to Area 51. The phrase "1dB" may reference either the intended or actual radar cross-section measurement of the aircraft.

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This was the original version of a patch commemorating a flight test of a B-2 "Spirit" stealth bomber. The sigma symbol on the test shape’s outline signifies invisibility. The number "509" refers to the 509th Bomb Wing, which operates the United States’ stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The alien is probably a reference to the 509th’s lineage. In 1947, the 509th was based at Roswell, New Mexico, home of the infamous "Roswell incident," which ensued after the 509th’s commander, Col. William Blanchard, issued a press release whose headline stated: "Roswell Army Airfield Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region." The dog-Latin phrase Gustatus Similis Pullustranslates as "Tastes like chicken." The shapes on either side of the alien head seem to signify a fork and knife, which would be consistent with the patch’s theme of eating.

This patch was eventually modified when Air Force officials insisted that the phrase "Classified Flight Test" could not appear on the design. In an updated version of this patch, that phrase has been replaced with the words "To Serve Man."

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This patch signifies a "black" project conducted by the Navy’s VX-9 Air Test and Evaluation Unit, based at Point Mugu, California. VX-9’s mission is to test strike aircraft, conventional weapons, electronic warfare equipment, and to develop tactics involving said weapons systems. The Latin phrase Si Ego Certiorem Faciam … Mihi Tu Delendus Eris roughly translates into a cliché commonly heard in the vicinity of "black" programs: "I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you."

But the phrasing here is unusual because it is written in the passive voice: a more accurate translation of the Latin would be "I could tell you, but then you would have to be destroyed by me." By employing the passive voice, the patch’s designer makes two references that would not exist in other phrasings. The first reference is to the Greek god of Chaos, Eris, about whom Homer wrote in Book Four of the Iliad: "[Eris] whose wrath is relentless … is the sister and companion of murderous Ares, she who is only a little thing at the first, but thereafter grows until she strides on the earth with her head striking heaven. She then hurled down bitterness equally between both sides as she walked through the onslaught making men’s pain heavier."

The passive phrasing of the Latin also echoes the words of the second-century BCE Roman senator Cato the Elder, who roamed the Senate repeating the words Carthago delenda estâ€â€"Carthage must be destroyed." In 149 BCE, Cato got his way and Rome attacked the North African city, located near present-day Tunis. Three years after beginning their assault, the Roman army overran Carthage, tore down its walls, and sold its inhabitants into slavery. After the Roman Senate declared that no one would ever again live where the city had stood, legend holds that Rome salted the earth around the city in order to ensure that Carthage would remain a wasteland.

...and the most recent entry in the crazy mission logos category:

(from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/nro-satellite-logo_n_4394577.html)

BawJ5tCCEAAQ6AN.jpg

Being applied to an upcoming satellite launch, commissioned by the National Reconnaissance Office.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which also oversees the NSA, tweeted pictures of the launch preparation. That spurred Christopher Soghoian, of the American Civil Liberties Union, to give the spooks some free advice: "You may want to downplay the massive dragnet spying thing right now. This logo isn't helping."[/TD]

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Camacha

Camacha

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I think the last one is typical for what is going wrong; the people have clearly expressed their disapproval of what is going on right now, but the spooks are proudly grasping control of whatever they can, whenever they can. It is very clear by now that if you decide to go the spying route, you need a very good, independent and transparant agency that monitors every action taken by spying agencies and that has the power to intervene, stop and forbid. It is only natural for agencies to take what they can, so there has to be a failsafe to stop that.

People do not realise yet, but these are the times where we as mankind decide how we live with the (relatively) new phenomena called the internet. Either we decide that all information is fair game for anyone that can take it, or we conclude that civil rights need to be protected and put the necessary failsafes in place. What we decide to do now, will probably be the direction of choice for decades or centuries to come.

I can only hope we do not need a digital enlightenment a couple of centuries down the road, marking our times the start of the digital dark ages.

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Decent Weasel

Decent Weasel

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All of the patches are borderline creepy, in conspiracy theory sense

Yeah, the ones with the grey aliens seem to be deliberately trolling for this. (Heck, the rest of them probably are too.)

Edit: Just saw this.

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/279b39a799ea

It's pointed out that the only place the octopus is actually touching ...is Afghanistan.

Edited by Decent Weasel
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Deadweasel

Deadweasel

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They're weird because they are made by the people in charge of the crimes represented by those patches. It's simple as that.

Oookay? So you're saying "criminals are weird", right?

Actually, I'm pretty sure the patch designers are pretty far removed from the folks in charge of the programs they're working on. I highly doubt some senator or Pentagon official sat down and literally doodled out any of those patches, as quirky as they may be.

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Deadweasel

Deadweasel

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Yeah, the ones with the grey aliens seem to be deliberately trolling for this. (Heck, the rest of them probably are too.)

Edit: Just saw this.

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/279b39a799ea

It's pointed out that the only place the octopus is actually touching ...is Afghanistan.

HAHAHAHA wow... Man, talk about poking at the conspiracy nuts!! I'll bet anything that's not the intention they had in mind with the design, but I agree they're definitely testing the limits with that one.

Also: "Decent Weasel"? Heh, didn't know there were more weasels around the forums. Ogrish/Liveleak, sure, but not here. :D

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Decent Weasel

Decent Weasel

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Also: "Decent Weasel"? Heh, didn't know there were more weasels around the forums. Ogrish/Liveleak, sure, but not here. :D

Yeah! I saw you a few months back and I was like "either this guy's gonna harsh on me for seemingly bitin' his style or he'll be pleased to see he's spawned a doppleganger." :)

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Deadweasel

Deadweasel

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Yeah! I saw you a few months back and I was like "either this guy's gonna harsh on me for seemingly bitin' his style or he'll be pleased to see he's spawned a doppleganger." :)

Heheheheh nah, you're safe. The internet is truly a big place, so I can hardly get indignant about running across somebody else who had a similar idea.

I've had this moniker for many years now, since before the internet was even a (publicly-accessible) thing. I honestly find it pretty cool to stumble across other "weasels" on the Web, but if my nick actually inspired yours, I am at once honored and righteously tickled pink! :D

There's a user on the small IRC network I frequent, who went by "SneakyWeasel". There's a bit of a legend surrounding him, as he died just before I came aboard, but his nick remained logged-in on the network for almost a year afterward. I felt a little weird when I heard about it, but the others simply saw it as an interesting coincidence and opportunity to give chills to the newbies.

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Deadweasel

Deadweasel

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Friend of mine with the Marines worked with VMA-311 for a time.

I always wondered who in the flying hell came up with their mascot (which used to be represented in an obviously amateur but massive painting inside the squadron's maintenance hangar in Yuma).

Vma311-a.jpg

I'm not so sure that's what the FAIR use act was supposed to allow for...

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Deadweasel

Deadweasel

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I think the best one is the tastes like chicken one. I would love to see any more with grey aliens on them.

There are a few more, most likely, and they will probably all be associated with programs based at Area 51 or White Sands, New Mexico. Folks who operate on those bases are just normal people like everybody else; they hear all the chatter about the places that employ them. This will inevitably wind up being reflected in program patches based out of their respective facilities. :D

Not sure I can find those, unless one or more of my AF buddies might have run across one during their work, but in the meantime:

GDL02-220.jpg

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This one is from a t-shirt, featuring a stylized version of the patch that U2 (aka "Dragon Lady") crews would wear

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magnemoe

magnemoe

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Creepiness is complementary with either with the 'leaders of the free world'-complex, or the 'goals justify the means'-syndrome. :wink:

Note that the patches are designed for internal team building not to be political correct.

This will probably change now as they got media attention who make high ranking bureaucrats loose face, same as nose art on military planes, who also was free of political correctness.

On the other hand do you want an memorable symbol for an top secret mission.

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Deadweasel

Deadweasel

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Note that the patches are designed for internal team building not to be political correct.

This will probably change now as they got media attention who make high ranking bureaucrats loose face, same as nose art on military planes, who also was free of political correctness.

On the other hand do you want an memorable symbol for an top secret mission.

^^This.

The patches are really only relevant to the team involved with the project/group. Usually the imagery is created based on inside jokes or references that are passed around like a meme.

Also, mission logos for NRO/NSA aren't always so seemingly threatening. For the most part, they are like this:

nrol-38-patch.jpg

The latin phrase is roughly translated as "We are not going to war."

This one has little known background, but is thought to originate from another Area-51 testing project. The "motto" is apparently very muddled Latin/Greek, and is probably most accurately translated as "Freedom throughout the cosmos"

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