Airmen and Guardians from all over the world wore their home unit patches to this year's AFA Air, Space, Cyber Conference. (Air & Space Forces photo illustration by David Roza)
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—More than 22,000 Airmen, Guardians, joint service members, partners, allies, and civilian stakeholders registered for this year’s AFA Air, Space & Cyber Conference, from Sept. 16-18 to share the latest news and ideas about some of the most challenging security issues of our time.
Besides the serious discussions, there were a rainbow of shoulder patches worn by service members from around the world celebrating the mission and heritage of their home units. Air & Space Forces Magazine photographed 27 shoulder patches compiled in the list below. It is by no means a comprehensive list of all the unit insignias on display at this year’s conference.
Though it sounds like a gas planet in Star Wars, BESPIN actually stands for Business and Enterprise Systems Product INovation, an Air Force software factory that is meant to help the service churn out easy-to-use mobile apps for education, mission scheduling, childcare, and everything in between. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Though it dates back to World War I, today the 89th Attack Squadron flies MQ-9 Reaper drones from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. The patch design represents the winged helmet of the ancient Greek god Hermes, a symbol of great speed. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Based at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, United Kingdom, the “Valkyries” of the 495th Fighter Squadron was the first overseas Air Force squadron to operate the F-35 Lightning II. The unit’s motto, “Mala Ipsa Nova,” is Latin for “Bad News Itself.” (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)National Intelligence University offers classes in the strategy and technology of intelligence gathering, leadership, management, and more to students across the civilian and military lanes of the intelligence community. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Space Force Guardians wear this patch when they work with the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency that operates the U.S. government’s spy satellites, though the NRO and USSF work together closely on the mission. The Latin numerals mark 1961, the year NRO was established. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)A student designed this patch for the Space Force’s 533rd Training Squadron’s Detachment 1, an intelligence tech school at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. The sheep skull represents the nearby city of San Angelo, nicknamed the wool capital of the world for its robust wool industry. The line of stars represents Aries, a constellation frequently used to help gauge the orbits of satellites overhead, while the Polaris or North Star symbol in the corner represents the Space Force core values. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)The grinning space helmeted skull of the Space Force’s 533rd Training Squadron is a space-age twist on the squadron’s historic emblem, where a skull wore an ancient or Medieval helmet. “Cannes Blue” is a common color for units assigned to Space Training and Readiness Command. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)The Space Force official song starts with “We’re the mighty watchful eye,” and few units take that more seriously than the Space Sensing directorate within Space Systems Command responsible for missile warning, tracking and defense, space-based environmental monitoring, and other sensing missions. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by Greg Hadley)Assigned to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., the 6th Air Refueling Squadron flew the KC-10 tanker since 1989 but is switching over to the newer KC-46 Pegasus as the KC-10 is due to retire later this month. The new jet matches the mascot, a common symbol in mobility squadrons. Vis Extensa is Latin for Strength Extended, according to the Air Force. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Also at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., the 9th Air Refueling Squadron is also switching from the KC-10 to the KC-46. The logo Universal “is truly a suitable single-word summary that conveys the extensiveness and depth of the herculean efforts that fill the squadron’s rich history,” according to the base website. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Though the symbolism of its patch was not immediately clear, the 344th Recruiting Squadron is made up of recruiters across Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Thanks to them and other squadrons across the service, the Air Force met its 2024 recruiting goals and aims to expand them in 2025. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Marylanders love their flag, so the patch for the Maryland Air National Guard’s 175th Force Support Squadron would not be complete without it. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Headquartered at Schriever Space Force Base, Colo., the 1st Space Operations Squadron performs space-based space domain awareness. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Though the Pittsburgh Steelers football team made it famous, the Steelmark is a symbol of the U.S. steel industry. The three diamond shapes represent the three materials used to produce steel: yellow for coal, orange/red for iron ore, and blue for steel scrap. The 171st Air Refueling Wing, a unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, has its own twist on the symbol: a KC-135 refueling tanker on the left side. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)This unofficial patch represents an Air Force Experimental Ops unit dedicated to developing the branch’s use of collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs), the robotic wingmen meant to help build up the Air Force’s combat capacity. The 0s and 1s in the background represent binary code. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)This morale patch for the CCA Systems Management Office at Air Combat Command Headquarters is a throwback to the 1984 Capcom video game 1942, where players fly the P-38 Lightning and unlock smaller buddy fighters to help protect them, just like how CCAs are meant to help U.S. fighter pilots in future conflicts. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)The 8s are everywhere in this patch for the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s J-8 Directorate, which evaluates and develops force structure requirements. The eight-tentacled octopus is purple, the color of joint operations. It sits on an 8-ball and touches aircraft, tanks, submarines, and everything in between. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Located at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the Air Force Operational Test & Evaluation Center Detachment 2 determines “how well systems perform when operated and maintained by military personnel in operational environments,” according to the base website. Those systems include electronic warfare, air armament, and other systems. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Today the 9th Airlift Squadron flies the C-5 Galaxy, the U.S. military’s largest air transport, but the squadron has flown troops into battle since World War II. The squadron’s mascot, the pelican, carries a mouth full of soldiers on the unit’s patch. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)While the symbolism of Space Force Delta 26’s Operations Support Division was not immediately clear, it looks fantastic. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Beavers build dams in streams, while the “cyber beavers” of the Space Force’s 662nd Cyber Squadron build dams to defend against cyber attack. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)The 160th Attack Squadron has a long history as a fighter squadron dating back to the dawn of the Cold War, when it was assigned to the Alabama Air National Guard. The unit has since become a formal training unit for MQ-9 pilots and sensor operators at the California Air National Guard’s 163rd Attack Wing. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)The largest diamond discovered in the U.S. was found in Arkansas, which picked diamonds as the state gemstone. Now a diamond is the centerpiece for the patch of the 19th Communications Squadron, assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Often translated as “come and take ‘em,” the phrase Molon labe is attributed to the Spartan King Leonidas when the Persian King Xerxes told his warriors to surrender their weapons before the Battle of Thermopylae. The Spartan spirit is alive and well at the 350th Special Warfare Training Squadron, which conducts initial training, assessment, and selection for all enlisted and commissioned Air Force special warfare recruits. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Activated in 2023, the “Grim Reapers” of the 493rd Fighter Generation Squadron maintain F-35 Lighting IIs, as illustrated by the two lightning bolts in the background. “Simul invicta” roughly translates to “at the same time invincible,” and the trail of the airplane makes a nice scythe shape with the lightning bolt. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)Bats use echolocation to find prey, which makes them a perfect mascot for the 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron, an electronic warfare unit assigned to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. The squadron has flown EC-130 Compass Calls since 1992, but in August it received the first EA-37B, marking an exciting new chapter for Air Force EW. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)The newest unit on this list, the 17th Electronic Warfare squadron activated administratively in August and will activate formally next month. An assessment squadron, its job is to evaluate EW performance at large exercises and make sure no EW friendly fire is happening. The patch, borrowed from the inactivated 17th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron, features a crow hurling a lightning bolt at a radar station. Crows are a common symbol in EW, and Crebain was a type of spy crow used by the wizard Saruman in the Lord of the Rings fantasy book series. (Air & Space Forces Magazine photo by David Roza)
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