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25th Air Force 25AF/ZQ Operating Location Wright Patterson OL-WP Special Analysis Branch SIGINT NSA Crypto Air Force Patch / Now Space Delta 18

25th Air Force 25AF/ZQ Operating Location Wright Patterson OL-WP Special Analysis Branch SIGINT NSA Crypto Air Force Patch / Now Space Delta 18

This patch is 3 inches in diameter.

OL-WP = Operating Location Wright Patterson (Wright-Pat)
A high-quality patch indicates on the front that this unit was associated with 25th Air Force.  25th Air Force, according to Google, is associated with the National Security Agency and conducts intelligence activities for the United States Air Force.  I tried to Google the "ZQ" portion of the coin and came up with references to "Special Analysis Directorate"
"The Truth is in the Noise" and "Special Analysis Branch".   A special SIGINT analysis branch. It has a large dragon above a globe.  Not sure of the significance.  Perhaps an interstellar threat to planet Earth??  It also has a very bright star above the dragon.  No idea what that means either.  It is said these programs are special i n nature and often refer to very secretive or intelligence programs in the military.

People like Wright-Patterson militaria because of the lore surrounding the Roswell incident in the 1940s.  It is said that a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, and that the craft and beings were taken to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for study and cover-up.  Rumors and urban legends have swirled for decades surrounding Wright-Patterson and its role in the development of alien technology.  It is the Area 51 of Ohio!  Are these coins related to any of that?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Don't miss your chance to own a very cool piece of American military history.

 

This function of Special Analysis is now officially called Space Analysis, and done by Space Delta 18. 

Twenty-Fifth Air Force (25 AF), also known as Air Force Intelligence, was a numbered air force (NAF) within the United States Air Force (USAF), and served as the Air Force's premier military intelligence organization. 25 AF was established on 29 September 2014[4] by redesignating the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency (a field operating agency) under Headquarters, United States Air Force, to a numbered air force aligned under Air Combat Command. The USAF also realigned the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and the 55th Wing under the new NAF. It was headquartered at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

Its primary mission was to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) products, applications, capabilities and resources, to include cyber and geospatial forces and expertise. Additionally, it is the service cryptologic component (SCC) responsible to the National Security Agency and Central Security Service for Air Force cryptographic activities.[5]

The 25th AF was originally activated as the United States Air Force Security Service on 20 October 1948, at Arlington Hall, Washington, D.C., with a mission of cryptology and communications security.[6]

The 25th AF was last commanded by Major General Timothy D. Haugh.[7]

On 11 October 2019, the 25th AF was merged with the 24th AF to form a reactivated 16th Air Force.[8]