NATO AGS Force

NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Force (NAGSF), Main Operating Base Sigonella — gifted to Marines of VMM-365 "Blue Knights" and VMGR-252 "Otis" · Allied · 2021-2022

Activated in September 2015 and standing up at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Force flies five RQ-4D Phoenix high-altitude drones as the Alliance's own eyes over land and sea — a 15-nation crew of roughly 400 that reached Initial Operational Capability in February 2021. The Latin below the eagle, QUID EVENIAT VIDEMUS, translates roughly as "we see what comes to pass," and the compass rose beneath the wing marks the ground stations that turn that radar picture into intelligence for NATO commanders. This patch was gifted by the AGS Force to U.S. Marines of VMM-365 and VMGR-252 sharing the Sigonella flight line during the North and West Africa Response Force rotation of 2021-2022, when Ospreys and KC-130Js stood crisis-response alert for AFRICOM from the same Sicilian ramp. Submitted by SSgt Sally.