Maybe some of you wingwipes can answer a question from an old groundpounder. My brother gave me one of those nylon flight jackets, the type that's a green on the outside and reversible to orange. I like it - it's warm but not too bulky, and great for wearing at the range since it sits high enough to wear over my gunbelt. Somehow, it just looks a little.naked. Anyone care to clue me in on the regs in terms of patch placement, particularly in reference to an American flag patch on the right shoulder and a velcro patch for a name plate on the left chest? I have a name plate that I had done up for a CVC suit when I was in.
Air Force Flag Patch: United States of America - OCP spice brown and bagby green flag reversed with hook closure SKU: 4432433M. Squadron color T-shirts may be worn with the ABU or flight suit when in-garrison or on-station during unit temporary duty assignments and contingency deployments. Shirts must be one color throughout the squadron, and may have only a small squadron patch over the left chest.
Well the Air force pukes (I say that with love!) are probably a little more uptight about that kind of thing, but in the Navy, we could pretty much put what ever we wanted (where ever we wanted) on our flight jackets. Most guys would have some type of patch representing the aircraft that they flew, along with a squadron patch (on the right breast), and of course a name tag (left breast). After that, you were likely to see all sorts of patches representing things such as the carrier they were on, and the various cruises they were on. The current trend with the American flag, seems to be placing a 'backwards' flag on the right shoulder. It is supposed to represent a wind blown flag, as you are moving foward. I never really liked that 'backward' arrangement, and would opt for a correct front facing flag on the left shoulder, if I were still in.
But that may not be an option in many squadrons, now, as the backwards configuration seems to be standard. It just doesn't look right to me. BTW, next time you watch 'Top Gun', take a look at Tom Cruise's flight jacket. I was in the Navy when the movie was being made. The word was, that Cruise was such an primadonna, and A.h., that nobody liked him. And so, the flight jacket that he was presented by the Navy, has an assortment of submarine and surface ship patches sewn on it.
It was an inside joke, because NO self respecting avaitor would dare decorate his flight jacket that way. (Don't misunderstand.I have great respect for the black shoe Navy). It's good for a laugh everytime I see that movie. Why Is The Army Flag Patch Reversed? Civilians often wonder why the US Army Flag Patch is reversed.
The answer is: not all Army Flag Patches are reversed, but only those worn on the right shoulder. The reason has to do with proper display of the flag. When flags are displayed on moving vehicles, the blue star field is always displayed towards the front of the vehicle.
In this way, the flag appears to be blowing in the wind as the vehicle travels forward (flags are always attached to their flag poles on the blue field side). If the flag were not reversed on the right hand side of the vehicle, the vehicle might appear to be moving backwards (or 'retreating').
The next time you visit an airport, notice that the US-flagged aircraft also have a 'reverse' flag painted on the right side of the aircraft. For flag patches worn on uniforms, the same principle applies: the blue star field always faces towards the front, with the red and white stripes behind. Think of the flag, not a patch, but as a loose flag attached to the Soldier's arm like a flag pole. As the Soldier moves forward, the red and white stripes will flow to the back.
Another question we are often asked: Doesn't a red, white, and blue flag on a camouflaged uniform defeat the purpose of camouflage? Yes, it does. Previously the U.S. Code prescribed that military use of the flag will always be red, white, and blue. However, with the updated Army Battle Dress Uniform that was recently unveiled, the flag patch will become a camouflage, muted color. The way we our flight jackets configured was: - Unit patch on the left sleeve (tabs as appropriate). Leather name plate with velcro backing on the left chest.
This name plate usually contained whatever wings/badges we had, Full Name, Rank, and 'US Army'. So in my case I would have my Aviation wings at the top, Airborne wings and Air Assualt wings just below that (with the Airborne wings on the right, of course), 'Carlos X. Xxxxxxxxxxx' below that, and '1LT' and 'U.S.ARMY' at the bottom line.
Unit or specialty patches (ie: Aeroscouts) are worn on the right chest. Combat patches on the right sleeve. We never wore the US flag because we were not authorized way back when.
But I assume that it is acceptible nowadays. The name plate and unit/specialty patches are removable (velcro backing). I hope this helps. Well the USAF does not use the jacket with orange lining. We only issue Nomex flight jackets CWU-45/P or the CWU/P-36 (summer weight), that have the collars. They also issue the leather A-2 jackets. The Nomex jackets would have the name tag on the left side of the chest, and the command patch on the right.
The name tag was usually cloth in unit colors. The right shoulder would be the squadron, or group patch, and the left shoulder was the wing patch or american flag (not 'reversed' since it was on the left shoulder.) No other patches. Some of us were a little more rebellious and used the left shoulder for TDY patches, that were not very PC. Same went for the nametags which often had non-PC 'callsigns' on them. All patches were attached by velcro not sewn on. The leather A-2 jacket again had the name plate on the left chest and command patch on the right. However, these were 'oversized' with the command patch having a black stitched border, and the nametag being brown leather, with a black leather backing.
Many people had nice linings added to the inside of their leather jackets, with 'blood chits' appropriate for CentComm sewn inside. Nametags on the Nomex jackets just had the wings and the name beneath them. The leather ones for the A-2 jackets had the wings with name beneath them, and the rank and USAF beneath that. Glock Talk is the #1 site to discuss the world’s most popular pistol, chat about firearms, accessories and more. As our membership continues to grow we look forward to reading your stories and learning from your experiences. Membership is free and we welcome all types of shooters, whether you're a novice or a pro. Come for the info, stay and make some friends.
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