VMAQ-4 "Victoria Bitter" Australia Det

VMAQ-4 "Seahawks" · USMC · 1994

Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4, the "Seahawks," flew the EA-6B Prowler under the RM tail code — a code reprised from their VMCJ-1 Vietnam lineage — jamming enemy radar and communications for Marine and joint forces. This det patch, worn by GySgt R. White during the squadron's 1994 Australia detachment, forgoes squadron heraldry entirely in favor of the label of Victoria Bitter, the Melbourne-brewed lager that was Australia's best-selling beer and an unavoidable fixture of any Marine's time down under. Such unofficial "det patches" were traded and worn off-aircraft as souvenirs of a deployment, and the joke was the point: the Seahawks had been to Australia, and they had the label to prove it. Commissioned as a reserve squadron in 1981, VMAQ-4 went active duty at MCAS Cherry Point in October 1992 and served as the Marine Corps' last Prowler squadron until its 2019 deactivation.