Scout Sniper Platoon Ronin Patch

The two characters under RONIN are 浪人, wave and person, the Japanese word for a samurai with no lord who drifts like a wave. A ronin answered to no master and lived by his own skill with a weapon. It is easy to see why a scout sniper platoon would take the name. Snipers work in small teams, often far from the rest of the battalion, with little more than a rifle, optics and each other. This patch is tied to a sniper platoon that fought in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2005 and 2006.

Fallujah was cleared in the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004, Operation Phantom Fury, but the city stayed contested long after. Marine battalions rotated through in 2005 and 2006, and scout snipers kept watch from rooftops and hide sites over the streets their battalions patrolled. A scout sniper platoon is the battalion commander's eyes, reporting what it sees as much as it shoots. A Marine scout sniper platoon that called itself Ronin is the subject of Mike Tucker's book Ronin: A Marine Scout/Sniper Platoon in Iraq. We have not tied this patch to a specific battalion, so we leave that to the men who wore it.

The patch is a small rectangle, 2 inches wide by 1 inch tall, with a cut edge. A black border frames a gray field. RONIN runs across the top in black block letters, with the two kanji stitched in black beneath it. The back carries a hook backing, so it attaches to any loop panel on a plate carrier, pack or range bag.

Scout snipers are a small community, and the platoons that went to Iraq knew the cost of the work. Long hours in a hide, heat, and the weight of every shot taken or held stayed with them. A name like Ronin says that platoon saw itself as apart, answering to the mission and to each other. Men who served in it carry that name long after they hand in their gear. This patch is a quiet way to keep it.

Put it on the loop panel of a range bag or pack, or set it in a shadow box with your scout sniper photos and unit patches. It also makes a good gift for a Marine who worked a sniper team in Iraq. Five letters and two characters.