Recon Rocker Black with Gold Patch

On 1 February 1969 the Army reorganized its long range reconnaissance patrol units in Vietnam as lettered Ranger companies of the 75th Infantry. Those small, heavily armed teams worked far past friendly lines, watching and reporting. Recon has always been that job: go out first, see without being seen, and come back with what the commander needs. Army Special Forces, Rangers, LRRPs and Marine reconnaissance units have all carried it. This rocker says one word, RECON, and anyone who did the work reads the rest.

When the Ranger companies of the 75th Infantry stood up in 1969, they were lettered C through I and K through P, with no J company, while Companies A and B stayed stateside as a strategic reserve. An average company carried 3 officers and 115 enlisted men. Special reconnaissance remains a core mission of Army Special Forces, and Marine divisions keep their own reconnaissance battalions. The skills carry across all of them: land navigation, patrolling, radio procedure and the patience to lie still for hours. The word on the tab is the same whichever unit taught it.

The patch is a 2.5 by 1 inch arched rocker with a cut edge and an iron-on backing. Gold block letters spell RECON across a black twill field, inside a gold border that follows the curve. Black and gold are the colors of the Army's Ranger tab, and they read clearly from across a room. The arch is sized to sit above or below a unit patch on a sleeve, a jacket shoulder or a vest. There is nothing else on it, and nothing else is needed.

Recon men tend not to talk much about where they went. The teams were small, the missions were long, and the men inside them depended on each other completely. The job rewarded quiet competence over noise. A good team came back with the information and without being found. A recon tab is how those men recognize each other at a reunion without a word.

Stitch it over a unit patch on a vest, or put it in a shadow box with a team photo and a boonie. It also makes a good gift for a recon veteran or for a young soldier or Marine headed to a reconnaissance unit. It is one word in black and gold.