Naval Flight Officer Badge
The Naval Flight Officer Badge is a decoration of the United States military which is awarded to those aviators of the United States Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and United States Marines who have qualified as Flight Officers onboard United States military aircraft. The decoration is similar in design to the Naval Aviator Badge and consisted of a pair of golden wings, navy crest, and crossed anchors.
The Naval Flight Officer Badge is identical for all three branches of the military which issue the award and is issued in a single degree. To qualify for the Naval Flight Officer Badge, a service member must have completed officer aviation training and be qualified as a co-pilot and systems operator onboard a naval aircraft. Such qualifications also include weapons deployment tactics, electronic warfare and airborne navigation.
The Naval Flight Officer Badge originated in the 1930s and evolved from the Naval Aviation Observer Badge. The main reason for creating the Naval Flight Officer Badge was to recognize the higher degree of training required for flight officers, compared to other airborne support personnel. In the modern space age, the Naval Flight Officer Badge is upgradeable to a variation of the Astronaut Badge.
Known as the Naval Flight Officer Astronaut Badge, the decoration is a standard Naval Flight Officer Badge upon which is centered a golden astronaut crest. The badge is issued for those Naval Flight Officers who have completed astronaut at NASA and have subsequently participated in a space flight more than 50 miles above the Earth.
See also: Military badges of the United States
