Naval Intelligence Patch

The eagle on this patch is wearing headphones. That one detail is the job: someone on a headset, on watch, listening. The motto wraps around the bird, "IN GOD WE TRUST" over the top and "ALL OTHERS WE MONITOR" underneath, a dry line that lands with anyone who has worked Navy intelligence. The joke rests on a real distinction, since the Navy's intelligence service is older than any other part of the U.S. Intelligence Community. The Office of Naval Intelligence was established on 23 March 1882.

Secretary of the Navy William H. Hunt created the office with General Order No. 292, on the recommendation of Lieutenant Theodorus Bailey Myers Mason, who became its first chief. Its early work was validated during the Great White Fleet's world cruise of 1907 to 1909. In World War II, ONI ran two intelligence schools, reported on German U-boat technology, operations and tactics through its Special Activities Branch during the Battle of the Atlantic, produced ship and aircraft recognition manuals, and translated intercepted Japanese communications. In 1946 it formed an Operational Intelligence Section to watch Soviet naval forces, and through the Cold War it tracked Soviet submarines with the Sound Surveillance System, SOSUS, and the Ocean Surveillance Information System, OSIS. Since 1988 its headquarters has been the National Maritime Intelligence Center in Suitland, Maryland.

The patch is 4.5 inches across, a circle with a black banner flaring out along the bottom, all finished with a red merrowed border. On a slate blue field, a gold eagle spreads its wings wide, a black headset clamped over its white head. On its dark breast sits a gray triangle holding a single watching eye. Two gold stars flank the top line, and "NAVAL INTELLIGENCE" runs across the black banner in bold gold letters. The eye is the watch that never closes, and the headset is how it listens.

Most of what Navy intelligence people did never made it into a cruise book or a press release. Analysts, intelligence specialists and officers worked behind closed doors, on carriers, ashore and in Suitland, and a good day was one when nothing came as a surprise to the fleet. Their record is measured in submarines tracked, threats called early and commanders who sailed knowing what was out there. Today ONI counts more than 3,000 military and civilian personnel, backed by more than 800 Navy Reservists. The humor on this patch belongs to that crowd, people who take the work seriously and themselves a little less.

Hang it in an office or a shadow box with a ship's patch and a rating badge, or put it on a jacket or a laptop bag. It is a sharp gift for a retired intelligence officer or intelligence specialist, or for anyone who stood a watch on a headset. The iron-on backing presses on, and a few stitches make it permanent. Somebody is always listening.