PA-MC 01 / Coverage index

Patriot airboats in the news

Every record below is a Patriot boat somewhere other than our shop floor. Agency deliveries, high water calls, tournament wins, and owners who sent photos back after they put the boat to work.

Newest first. Each one carries the date, the place, the agencies that were there, and a link to the source where there is one.

10 Records on file

09 Agencies named

04 States represented

Latest record 08 OCT 2026

REC 10 / 08 OCT 2026 / Texas Community event

A Patriot on display at a Texas Game Warden meet and greet

Texas Game Wardens brought one of their Patriot-built airboats out on the trailer for a public meet and greet, parked next to the recruiting banner with the K9 and the display table.

Visitors got up on the deck and into the seats. Most people only ever see one of these from a distance, usually on a day when something has gone wrong. An evening in a parking lot with the prop cage at eye level is a better introduction.

Texas Parks and Wildlife runs four Patriots.

Related: Law enforcement airboats and search and rescue airboats

Texas Game Wardens and a K9 with visitors in front of a trailered Patriot airboat at the meet and greet

Visitors on the deck of a Texas Game Warden Patriot airboat, with the Patriot Airboats hull wrap and the Parks and Wildlife seal

A Texas Game Warden meeting visitors beside a marked Texas Game Warden truck at sunset

Texas Game Warden display table with hides, an alligator skull and a patrol vest in front of a marked truck

Trailered and open to the public

Texas Game Wardens boarding a Patriot airboat marked Texas Game Warden at a flooded Dolan Creek Road crossing in Val Verde County, Texas

REC 09 / 02 OCT 2026 / Val Verde County, Texas

Game wardens put a Patriot in the water at Dolan Creek

Lupe Puente, a Val Verde County employee, crossed Dolan Creek Road while it was dry. The water came up behind him and took his vehicle. He got out and reached the bank on his own.

Texas Game Wardens launched a Patriot-built airboat at the crossing. Val Verde County Fire Department worked the scene with Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez and the Val Verde County Sheriff's Office. Precinct 2 Commissioner Juan Carlos Vazquez and County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. were both there.

The boat in these photos is a Patriot. Texas Parks and Wildlife runs four of them.

Commissioner Vazquez posted the warning the same day. A crossing that looks dry can turn in a matter of moments. Turn around, don't drown.

Agencies on scene: Texas Game Wardens, Val Verde County Fire Department, Val Verde County Sheriff's Office
Source: Commissioner Juan Carlos Vazquez, Precinct 2, and Zocalo

Val Verde County Fire Rescue crew and Texas Game Wardens standing beside a trailered Patriot airboat at the Dolan Creek Road crossing — Staging at the crossing

County officials and fire rescue crew talking on the gravel bank with a Patriot airboat idling in the floodwater behind them — The crossing, under water

Val Verde County Fire Rescue crew pulling rescue gear from a pickup bed near the Dolan Creek Road crossing — Gear off the truck

REC 08 / 13 AUG 2026 / Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana Fleet delivery

New Patriot airboat delivered to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office Marine Division

Faron Floyd of Patriot Airboats with Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office deputies at the handover — Handover in Calcasieu Parish

Calcasieu Parish adds Patriots to its Marine Division

The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office Marine Division took delivery of two new Patriot-built airboats, bought with Port Security Grant funds. They replace older boats that had been in service.

Law enforcement work in south Louisiana happens in shallow water and thick marsh, on ground a standard patrol boat cannot reach. That is what these hulls are for.

When a call comes in from somewhere the road does not go, the boat has to start.

Boats delivered: 2
Related: Law enforcement airboats and the Calcasieu delivery page

REC 07 / 25 JUL 2026 / Arkansas Tournament

First place at the Arkie World bowfishing tournament

Chad, Ben, Blake and Deuce took first at the 2026 Arkie World Bowfishing Tournament.

They ran a Patriot hull through shallow water all night and came back with enough fish to beat a serious field. Congratulations to all four of them.

Related: Hunting and fishing airboats

Bowfishing crew on a Patriot airboat deck at the 2026 Arkie World tournament

Bucket of carp taken during the 2026 Arkie World bowfishing tournament in Arkansas

First place trophy from the 2026 Arkie World bowfishing tournament

REC 06 / 19 JUL 2026 / California Rescue

Rescued dog aboard an airboat after being recovered from a California bay

Video loads from Facebook when you press play

Shallow water and a bad shoreline kept the crew from reaching the dog on foot.

A Patriot airboat gets a dog off a California bay

California fire rescue crews needed reach and control to get close to a dog stranded in a bay, without putting the animal or the crew in a worse spot. The airboat gave them both.

The dog came aboard and went back to shore.

Related: Search and rescue airboats

REC 05 / 02 MAY 2026 / Vidor, Texas Owner review

Alligator egg harvesting run from an airboat in the marsh — Marsh work from the deck

Wetlands Transportation runs their Patriot on the water

We spent a day on the water with Wetlands Transportation going over their Patriot-built boat. Not a walkaround in a parking lot. The boat was moving and loaded, and the people who run it did the talking.

Every boat that leaves Vidor is built around a job. Hauling crews, running shallow, supporting field work, or holding together in conditions that finish a standard hull.

A boat that only looks good sitting still is the wrong boat.

Related: Industrial airboats

REC 04 / 13 APR 2026 / Brazos River, Texas Rescue

Patriot-built airboat works a Brazos River rescue

At 8:39 PM the Waller County Sheriff's Office got a call from Austin County about a person and a kayak in the water on the Brazos near I-10. The first units on the bank could hear someone calling from the river.

Waller County Office of Emergency Management was called for airboat support. Constable Justin Lane and Deputy Lewis with Waller County Constable's Office Pct. 1 responded aboard WCAB-1, with Texas DPS Aerial Operations overhead putting them on a sandbar.

The crew went in, recovered the man and the kayak, and handed both off to deputies and EMS on the bank.

Agencies involved: Waller County Sheriff's Office, Waller County Constable's Office Pct. 1, Waller County Office of Emergency Management, Texas DPS Aerial Operations, Austin County

Waller County airboat WCAB-1 on the Brazos River during the April 2026 rescue

Responders working the Brazos River bank during the kayaker rescue near I-10

Patriot-built airboat underway on the Brazos River during the night rescue

Waller County Constable's Office crew aboard WCAB-1 on the Brazos River

Airboat approaching the sandbar where the kayaker was located on the Brazos River

Rescued kayaker and kayak handed off to deputies and EMS on the Brazos River bank

REC 03 / MAR 2026 / Big 20 Tournament

First place trophy from the Big 20 2026 fishing contest — Big 20, first place

They said the boat was part of how they got it done.

Zane Williams and crew take Big 20 2026

Zane Williams and his crew won Big 20 2026 in their Patriot.

The win was theirs. Skill, preparation and time on the water do that, not a hull. We are glad the boat held up its end.

REC 02 to 01 / 2021 to 2024 / Southeast Texas In the press

Newspaper coverage from the hometown papers

REC 02 / Port Arthur News / 03 JUL 2024

Vidor company builds new airboats for Jefferson County rescue efforts

Sheriff Zena Stephens of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department took delivery of two Patriot-built airboats ahead of hurricane season. Patriot was the winning bidder. The Marine Division crew came to Vidor for hands-on and water training before the boats went into service.

By PA News · Read it at panews.com · The delivery page

REC 01 / Orange Leader / 27 OCT 2021

Making a Big Splash

The Orange Leader covered an 18 ft Patriot with 665 horsepower shipping out of Vidor to a hunting and fishing guide in south Texas, and Faron Floyd thanking the hometown for the support.

By Dawn Burleigh · Read it at orangeleader.com

PA-MC 03 / Send us a record

Seen a Patriot working? Send it in.

If your agency ran one of our boats on a call, or you came off the water with a fish and a trophy, send the photos and the date. This page is built from what people send back to the shop.

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