I don't understand the rank structure of Flight Officer, can anyone help?
I understand it was a Warrant Officer rank for pilot graduates? The rank bar was of a WO I but in blue, however what uniform would a person of this rank wear??
Would it be other ranks/NCO's or would he wear officer uniform?
I don't understand the rank structure of Flight Officer, can anyone help?
I understand it was a Warrant Officer rank for pilot graduates? The rank bar was of a WO I but in blue, however what uniform would a person of this rank wear??
Would it be other ranks/NCO's or would he wear officer uniform?
Thanks in advance
Ian
The rank of Flight Officer was established in 1942 after the Army realized they did not have enough qualified personnel to fill the needed pilot positions. Prior to WWII, pilots had to have at least 2 years of college, and they attained the rank of 2nd LT upon graduation from flight school. Enlisted personnel with less education would be graduated as Staff Sergeants.
The rank of FO gave these enlisted personnel all the rights and privileges of officer rank.
FO/WO's wore the same uniform as officers, with WO/FO rank insignia, but without the officer band on the bottom of each sleeve.
Also could someone stay at this rank for the period of the war? Again I would have thought so if he was not suitable to become an officer and/or be promotied to 2 Lt.!
Ian,
The Flight Officer rank gave the aviators officer status in case of capture by the Germans (capture by the japanese was considered to be equally bad for officers and enlisted alike). Once a man was given the rank, he kept it unless he applied for a commission in which case he could have been promoted to 2nd Lieutenant. The Flight Officer outranked all enlisted ranks, but was outranked by 2nd Lt and above.
Flight officers did not command troops on the ground where commissioned officers could be promoted to command squadrons, wings, groups, etc.
Finally, in the US, Flight Officers normally wore Warrant Officer eagles and the WO cap badge and as Tom said, did not wear cuff bands on their uniforms. In the ETO, it was common to see Flight Officers wearing Officer Eagle devices on the caps and winged props on their collars.
Most Glider Pilots were Flight Officers.
Allan
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian Jewison
Also could someone stay at this rank for the period of the war? Again I would have thought so if he was not suitable to become an officer and/or be promotied to 2 Lt.!
/Ian
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That explains it well, I thought it was an intermediate rank awaiting promotion to 2 Lt....a bit like an Oberfähnrich in German terms!
This group is to a glider pilot so I am happy now...thought it had been messed about with, the rank is F/O on an officers Ike with crusher and officers cap device.
This group is to a glider pilot so I am happy now...thought it had been messed about with, the rank is F/O on an officers Ike with crusher and officers cap device.
Cheers
Ian
Ian,
The penalty for asking questions here is that you have to post photos of your goodies!
BTW- Airborne troop Carrier was definitely AAF though it was attached to the 1st Allied Airborne Army for operations like Market Garden. Flight Officers had to REALLY want to get commissioned to get promoted. I would say 99.9% of all Flight Officers stayed FOs for the duration of the war. Most of them were given the option of converting back to enlisted rank if they wanted to stay in the Airforce after the war.
Allan
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Ian,
Gorgeous Juarez pattern glider wing and the red background is rather interesting. This is only the third time I have ever seen the red background behind these wings.
Do you have a name to go with this fantastic uniform?
Allan
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Fantastic jacket, but what is the significance of the red patch?
Like Allan said, beautiful Juarez wings too. No mistaking the "angled" design of these wings. Not that it makes any difference, but are they marked?
THe red background was sort of a play on the blue "combat aircrew" backing behind the wings of AAF personnel. The order was given to sewn the backing on the uniform so GIs could not simply slip on a pair of AAF aircrew wings when they were out of their respective camps. In many of the camps, the infantry soldiers had a curfew, while the Operational Squadrons in the area allowed the airmen and ground crews to be out much later and more frequently. The MPs usually didn't stop the guys wearing wings, because odds were that they had permission to be out and about. The blue sew-on patch kept the non flight crew folks from thwarting MP attention by pinning on a pair of wings.
The red background was a symbol to denote that the Glider Pilot was dropping down into the fire as opposed to staying "up in the blue." It was NOT official.
As for the Juarez wings, my bet is that there won't be a maker mark, but you will see "Coin Silver" instead of "sterling" marked on the back.
Allan
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Never under-estimate the power of prayer.
One minor question... If this guy did a combat glider landing (as indicated by his red wing backing) wouldn't he be entitled to an invasion arrowhead? Maybe my mind is just getting old, but I can't remember any non-invasion glider landings during the War - the only ones I recall off the top of my head would qualify the personnel for the wear of the invasion arrowhead. I'm open to correction on this one, so I'm standing by for education...
THe red background was sort of a play on the blue "combat aircrew" backing behind the wings of AAF personnel. The order was given to sewn the backing on the uniform so GIs could not simply slip on a pair of AAF aircrew wings when they were out of their respective camps. In many of the camps, the infantry soldiers had a curfew, while the Operational Squadrons in the area allowed the airmen and ground crews to be out much later and more frequently. The MPs usually didn't stop the guys wearing wings, because odds were that they had permission to be out and about. The blue sew-on patch kept the non flight crew folks from thwarting MP attention by pinning on a pair of wings.
The red background was a symbol to denote that the Glider Pilot was dropping down into the fire as opposed to staying "up in the blue." It was NOT official.
As for the Juarez wings, my bet is that there won't be a maker mark, but you will see "Coin Silver" instead of "sterling" marked on the back.
Allan
Hello,
I don't know if there ever was an order to sew the backing on the uniforms, but if there was, I would love to see it!! The practice of wearing blue backings seem to have been mostly limited to the 8th AAF (rarely seen on 9th AAF uniforms, I believe) and almost totally limited to England.
While I have no doubt that wings were used to pick up girls (and get free beers at the pub), I think the origin of the blue backing on wings in the 8th is rather more mundane. English manufactured bullion and silk thread wings were sewn on a blue melton felt background (the RAF wings were sewn on a black melton felt background). The wings were usually sewn on a big machine that would produce a number of wings on a single sheet of fabric (I actually saw a strip of bullion pilot wings all in a line sewn on a single sheet of blue felt about 2 feet wide and 3 feet long!). Once the wings came off the machine, they were trimmed into squares (with the wing centered in the middle), placed in packages and sold in uniform supply companies. At some point, the airmen would buy the wings. I believe that for some reason, some airmen sewed the wings directly on the uniform, WITHOUT first trimming the felt--you do see English wings with the felt trimmed around the wing sewn on uniforms as well. I also believe, that eventually, the practice of having the large blue felt background became associated with combat crews (even to the extent of adding a yellow braid) and perhaps, as Alan said, a way to keep wayward non-wing wearing soldiers from scoring free beers and English lasses.
Here is a mint bullion wing that was bought by Lt. John Kennedy. He was shot down before he ever used these patches. You can see that the bullion patch was never trimmed down.
US AAF Flight Officer rank?
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