File talk:15th Special Operations Squadron.png

I was the designer of this patch while assigned to the 8th SOS, awaiting the standup of the 15th SOS with the new MC-130H Combat Talon II. I was the assistant operations officer of the new unit, having come from the operational test of the MC-130H at Edwards AFB. I researched the unit patch's history, which led back to the 15th Bomb Squadron and a patch that had a large bomb on it, superimposed on a globe with flames scattered around. I redesigned to reflect a number of things. First, the Fairbairn-Sykes fighting knife with wings has long been a SOF emblem, so that replaced the bomb. Second, five flames were placed across the lower part of the globe. DOD regulations prohibited memorials on unit patches, so in the writeup, we claimed that the flames represented the theater CINCs that the 15th would support. This was total crap--in fact, the flames represented the five Combat Talon crewmembers lost at Desert One, in the Iranian hostage rescue misson. Their loss led to the Combat Talon II program and the reconstitution of the woefully neglected special operations forces of the United States, so we felt it was appropriate to remember them, not only for what their sacrifices represented, but also as friends and crewmates of many of us who tested the MC-130H and stood up the new 15th SOS. In any event, the story got us through the approval process, and the design became the official emblem of the 15th SOS. Dave White, Major, USAF (Retired)

Thanks for this background information. --Túrelio (talk) 08:42, 22 March 2010 (UTC)