Description
Officially Licensed US Navy HSM-74 Swamp Fox Throwback Squadron Sticker — A Nod to the SH-60B Days Before the Romeo Arrived
Before the MH-60R, before the redesignation, the Swamp Foxes were hunting submarines as HSL-44.
Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 74 (HSM-74) — the ‘Swamp Foxes’ — is one of the U.S. Navy’s most combat-proven helicopter squadrons, currently flying the MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopter out of Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, as part of Carrier Air Wing 3. The Swamp Foxes trace their lineage to August 21, 1986, when they were established as Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Light 44 (HSL-44) at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, flying the SH-60B Seahawk in the LAMPS III anti-submarine warfare role. For over two decades as HSL-44, the squadron deployed detachments aboard cruisers, destroyers, and frigates across the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Persian Gulf, hunting submarines and providing surface surveillance during the Cold War’s final years and into the Global War on Terror. In November 2009, the squadron relocated to NAS Jacksonville, and on June 9, 2011, was redesignated HSM-74 to reflect its transition from the SH-60B to the more capable MH-60R ‘Romeo’ and its realignment in support of a carrier air wing. In October 2023, the Swamp Foxes deployed with CVW-3 aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and were immediately thrust into combat operations in the CENTCOM area of responsibility against Houthi-Iranian military forces in Yemen. During that historic nine-month deployment, HSM-74 helicopters employed the first-ever Hellfire missiles fired to defend U.S. and coalition assets, engaged and sank three Houthi small boats that opened fire on their aircraft during a December 31st attack on civilian mariners in the Red Sea, and evacuated 26 civilian mariners from the stricken M/V Tutor after it was struck by a Houthi unmanned surface vehicle. This throwback sticker honors the HSL-44 era — when the Swamp Foxes were still flying Bravos and building the foundation for a squadron that would go on to make combat history.
Perfect For: HSM-74 and HSL-44 Swamp Fox veterans past and present, SH-60B and MH-60R Seahawk aircrew, CVW-3 and NAS Jacksonville personnel, and anyone who remembers when the Swamp Foxes were still flying the Bravo.
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