SWITZERLAND Battalion 43, Airport Regiment 4 sleeve patch

The Airport Regiment 4 was a dedicated airport defence unit. The key concern for Swiss military planners was an airborne Soviet assault on Zurich-Kloten International Airport, a Swiss object of national economic and military importance. The regiment was created at a rapid rate by the direct order of the Swiss Federal Council in 1984 and became fully operational in 1987. The formation was a small brigade composed of 3,400 reserve soldiers who could be alerted within 2 hours and were responsible for the defence and security of two collocated airports - an international civil airport and a smaller military airport 15 kilometers away. The regiment was disbanded in 2003, and since then the insignia is obsolete.