VA-145 'Swordsmen' Martin Lane G-1; legitimate or not?

[MaydayWei]

It is an excellent jacket and a nice fit, you should wear it with pride. Long standing Naval Aviation practice (and what distinguished Naval Air from Air Force) was that in the Navy, what was not written down or mandated, was considered acceptable, (and usually exploited until it got out of hand and generated 'official guidance' from the fun police). So, while I'm not sure about now, in my day, nametags were not required. Lack of guidance meant that jacket patch configuration depended on the relative level of rebelliousness or non-conformity of the aircrew owner. The other thing that may distinguish an un-named jacket is that it may have belonged to a non-aircrew ground pounder (maintenance or intel type) who came by it less than legitimately (aka 'procurement' or 'cumshaw'), and benefitted from the anonimity. And our senior ground pounders were usually so revered by command and aircrew for their outstanding work product, so leadership seldom, if ever, cared if they wore a flight jacket. Hope this helps. Bottom line, enjoy the jacket!

That's really good to know. Thanks very much for your in-depth explanation and insight, mate!
Appreciate ya taking the time

 

[MaydayWei]

Gentlemen, good evening.

So, I did some research into the patches on my jacket and here's what I've found so far. The specific variation of Tonkin Gulf patch sewn to my jacket indicates a second combat tour in Vietnam. This corroborates our earlier theory of the jacket having first served with VA-145 aboard the Enterprise (in '69) and then aboard the Ranger (in '70)). This specific variation of Tonkin Gulf patch is also (apparently) Japanese made; which, taken together with the Hawaiin Occupation patch, means that my jacket must have at least visited Hawaii once, Japan once, and Vietnam twice!

Having been to Japan and Hawaii myself, I think I may need to make the pilgrimage to the Tonkin gulf too...

Pics:

 

[B-Man2]

That’s pretty cool Wei . You scored a real piece of history with that jacket . No repro could ever duplicate it .

 

[MaydayWei]

That’s pretty cool Wei . You scored a real piece of history with that jacket . No repro could ever duplicate it .

On your advice, Burt