Blackwater Aviation Patch

The red crosshairs around the bear paw on this patch are the ones Blackwater later dropped from its company logo. That alone tells you which era this design comes from. Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince and headquartered in Moyock, North Carolina, and it grew into one of the best-known private security and training contractors of its time. In February 2009 the company became Xe Services. The aviation side of the house is the one this patch is named for.

The flying was done through Presidential Airways, a sister company of Blackwater Aviation Worldwide Services (AWS), which owned the aircraft that Presidential operated. Presidential was based in Moyock until 2010, when Xe Services sold it to AAR. In 2004 it won a U.S. government contract worth up to $34 million for fixed-wing short takeoff and landing airlift across Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. That work was flown in CASA C-212 turboprops, rugged high-wing airplanes made for short, rough strips, and the company later added the CASA CN-235. Its fleet has also included helicopters such as the Bell 412, the MD-530 and the Sikorsky S-61.

The patch measures 3 inches wide by 2.75 inches tall, cut to a shield-like outline with a black border, and it has a hook backing that attaches to a loop panel. The field is olive drab twill, and every bit of the design is raised black embroidery except one color. BLACKWATER arches across the top in heavy block letters, AVIATION sits on a tab across the bottom, and stylized black wings sweep out to both sides. In the center a red reticle with four tick marks rings a black bear paw. It is subdued enough to wear on a plate carrier and still easy to read at arm's length.

Contract aviation in those years meant airlift into remote places, often on short fields at high elevation, where a STOL airplane and a crew that knew it were the only way in. The pilots, mechanics and loadmasters who did it worked far from any flight line most people would recognize. Their passengers were soldiers, government staff and cargo that had to get somewhere the roads did not reach. The bear paw on olive drab was the mark of that work. People who flew with it, or rode in back, remember the airplanes and the strips by name.

Put it on the loop panel of a plate carrier, a range bag or a backpack, or mount it in a shadow box with your deployment patches. It also makes a good gift for someone who flew contract airlift or worked alongside those crews overseas. Small, subdued, and easy to recognize.