United States Army Air Forces Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Badges==== {{Main article|Obsolete badges of the United States military}} To denote the special training and qualifications required for air crew and technical personnel in the USAAF, in most categories known as being [[U.S. Air Force aeronautical rating|rated]], the following [[Military badges of the United States|military badges]] (known familiarly but ubiquitously throughout the service as "wings") were authorized for wear by members of the Army Air Forces:<ref>Bowman (1997), p. 156. Reproduction of relevant page from ''The Officer's Guide'', July 1943.</ref> {| class="wikitable" |[[Gunner Badge|Aerial Gunner Badge]] |[[File:USAAF Aerial Gunner Badge.png|150px]] |[[Aircrew Badge|Army Air Forces Aircrew Badge]] |[[File:USAAF Aircrew Badge.png|150px]] |- |Airship Pilot Badge |[[File:USAAF Airship Pilot Badge.png|150px]] |[[Balloon Pilot Badge]] |[[File:BallonPilot.jpg|150px]] |- |[[Observer Badge|Balloon Observer Badge]] |[[File:USAAF - Balloon Observer Badge.jpg|150px]] |[[Bombardier Badge]] |[[File:BombardierBadge 2.jpg|150px]] |- |[[Flight Engineer Badge]] |[[File:FlightEnginneerbadge.jpg|150px]] |[[Flight Nurse Badge]] |[[File:USAAF Flight Nurse Wings.png|150px]] |- |[[Flight Surgeon Badge (United States)|Flight Surgeon Badge]] |[[File:USAAF Flight Surgeon Wings.png|150px]] |Flight Surgeon Dentist Badge |[[File:USAAF - Flight Surgeon Dentist.JPG|150px]] |- |[[Auxiliary Pilot Badge|Glider Pilot Badge]] |[[File:GliderPilot2.jpg|150px]] |[[Obsolete badges of the United States military|Instructor Badge]] |[[File:USAAF - Civilian Flight Instructor.jpg|150px]] |- |[[Auxiliary Pilot Badge|Liaison Pilot Badge]] |[[File:LiaisonWings.jpg|150px]] |[[Navigator Badge]] |[[File:NavigatorBadge-old.jpg|150px]] |- |[[Observer Badge]] |[[File:ObserverBadge.jpg|150px]] |[[United States Aviator Badge|Pilot Badge]] |[[File:USAAF Wings.png|150px]] |- |[[Auxiliary Pilot Badge|Service Pilot Badge]] |[[File:USAAF Service Pilot Badge.png|150px]] |[[Observer Badge|Technical Observer Badge]] |[[File:Technical Observer.jpg|150px]] |- |[[Women Airforce Service Pilots Badge]] |[[File:WASPbadge.jpg|150px]] |[[Women Airforce Service Pilots|WASP Pilot Badge, Older Version]] |[[File:USAAF Wings WASP Pilot Class 43-W-2 1943.jpg|150px]] |- |[[Army Air Force Technician Badge|Army Air Forces Technician Badge]] |[[File:USAAF - Tech Badge BW.jpg|70px|center]] |[[Marksmanship badges (United States)|Distinguished Aerial Badges]]<ref>[http://emersoninsignia.net/files/Download/AerialDistinguished.pdf Distinguished Bomber and Aerial Gunner Badges] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527213320/http://emersoninsignia.net/files/Download/AerialDistinguished.pdf |date=27 May 2014 }}, U. S. Army Insignia, William K. Emerson, retrieved 25 January 2013</ref><ref>[http://www.ww2wings.com/wings/btw/us/us.shtml U.S. Army Air Corps β Between The Wars], Aviation Wings and Badges of World War II, retrieved 25 January 2013</ref> |[[File:Former US Army Distinguished Aerial Badges.png|150px]] |} These aviation qualification badges were typically worn in full three-inch (76 mm) size on service or dress uniforms, but two-inch versions (nicknamed "sweetheart wings") were also authorized for less-formal shirt wear. Most aviation badges were made of sterling silver or were given a silver finish, and various devices were used to attach them to uniforms. These included the traditional pin and safety catch and, later, clutch-back fasteners. Most USAAF badges of World War II became obsolete, having been superseded by later designs or with their aeronautical rating discontinued, and were not authorized for wear on the uniform after 1955. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page