Super Hornet with "Dragon Tattoo" - Unveils the U.S. military aircraft wearing the Bayi Military Insignia

Recently, there is such a photo circulating in the domestic military self-media and WeChat groups, and on the armband of the US naval officer on the right side of the photo, there are 5 simplified characters "sticks and stones" and a F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter aircraft painted with five-pointed stars.

Regarding its meaning, there are claims on the Internet that Americans are not familiar with Chinese culture and have embroidered five obscure simplified characters on it, and even interpreted it as an allusion to the Sino-Indian border conflict between the US military since May 2020. So what is the truth? This article will be a brief interpretation for the reader.

The officer on the right, taken on June 20, is lieutenant colonel Matt Runzel (now retired), former squadron leader of the U.S. Navy's 12th Fighter Squadron Composite Twelve (VFC-12).

The 12th Fighter Mixed Squadron was first established in 1973 as the U.S. Navy's first hybrid reserve carrier-based aircraft squadron, currently based at NAS Oceana, the east coast headquarters of the U.S. Naval Air Force in Virginia, where it primarily serves as a hypothetical enemy fighter and serves as a "Strike Fighter Advanced Readiness Program" for the first-line combatant F/A-18 fighter squadron. SFARP) provides training support.

On August 11, 2005, an F/A-18B from 12th Squadron landed on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan

The program, a three-week, high-intensity training program conducted by the U.S. Navy's Strike Fighter Weapons School Atlantic (SFWSL), aims to enable U.S. Navy carrier-based attack fighter crews to improve their combat skills prior to operational deployment by simulating imaginary enemy aircraft.

U.S. Navy Atlantic Strike Fighter Weapons School Logo

Starting this year, the 12th Squadron was refitted from the original F/A-18A+ to the F/A-18E Super Hornets.

On October 29, the squadron posted several photos of the award, the present squadron leader, Lieutenant Colonel Scott Golich, which was eye-catching because the photo was taken in the aircraft hangar, and the rear wing of an F/A-18 Hornet fighter was painted with the emblem of the Chinese Air Force.

As early as last year, the 12th Squadron actually officially announced the upcoming livery of the new aircraft, and some super Hornets were painted with the logo of the Chinese People's Liberation Army military aircraft, simulating the J-10 and J-11 of the Chinese Air Force and Navy, the J-15 carrier-based fighter of the Chinese Navy and the J-16 two-seat fighter of the Air Force.

According to a public affairs officer of the 12th Composite Squadron, the enemy aircraft planned on the team included Russian, North Korean, and Iranian warplanes in addition to China.

On June 19, one of the squadron's F/A-18Es painted with Russian Su-57 fighter jets made its debut at the retirement ceremony of former squadron leader Lieutenant Colonel Runzel.

The "Sticks and Stones" morale badge on Runzel's uniform at the beginning of this article appeared in the summer of 2019, so it has nothing to do with the India-China border conflict from May 2020. This sentence is derived from the nursery rhyme "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me" (sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me half a point) and are intended to motivate students.

However, it is deliberately embroidered with Chinese, coupled with the newly launched hostile aircraft livery, and the meaning is self-evident.