Tailhook Assoc. 1965

The Tailhook Association ("Hook") — annual naval aviator reunion · USN · 1965

Founded in 1956 by active-duty carrier aviators who first gathered at Rosarito Beach, Baja California, the Tailhook Association marked each annual reunion with its own patch; this one commemorates the 1965 gathering in Las Vegas, where the fast-growing event had settled at the Sands Hotel and Casino after moving up from San Diego in 1963. The embroidered device is the association's namesake — an aircraft arresting hook, banded shank and all, the single piece of steel that separates a carrier landing from a swim. The 1965 reunion convened in the first year of Operation Rolling Thunder, when the symposium doubled as a place for Pacific and Atlantic Fleet aircrews to trade hard-won lessons from the skies over Southeast Asia. This example comes from a private collection and was worn on the left sleeve of a Navy Commander's leather flight jacket.