Badges of the United States Air Force are specific uniform insignia authorized by the United States Air Force that signify aeronautical ratings, special skills, career field qualifications, and serve as identification devices for personnel occupying certain assignments.[1]
Most Air Force badges are awarded in three degrees or skill levels. Aeronautical rating badges for pilots, combat systems officers, observers, and air battle managers are awarded at basic, senior, and command levels; while flight nurses and flight surgeons are awarded ratings at the basic, senior, and chief levels. All other aviation badges are awarded at the basic, senior, and master levels. Air Force occupational badges are normally issued in basic, senior, and master level for officers. A star and wreath system, worn above the Air Force badge, denotes which degree or skill level a service member currently holds. Previously, enlisted wear the basic badge after completing technical school, the senior badge after award of the 7-skill level, and the master badge as a master sergeant or above with 5 years in the specialty from award of the 7-skill level. For non-rated commissioned officers, the basic badge is awarded after completion of technical training, the senior badge after 7-years in their respective AFSC, and master at 15-years. Now most career field CFETPs denote the requirements for awarding each level. [1]
Chaplain, aeronautical, space, cyberspace, and missile operations badges, along with the Air Force Commander's Insignia are mandatory for wear on Air Force uniforms. With the most recent changes to Air Force uniform regulations, restrictions have been lifted on the wear of other service's skill badges that airman have earned. Precedence of badges within the same category depends on the airman's current assignment.[1] [2]
The Air Force is the most restrictive service with regards to which Air Force badges may be worn on the uniforms by other branches of the US Armed Forces. Most badges issued exclusively by the Air Force may only be displayed on Air Force uniforms. The exception to this rule is the Space Operations Badge.[1] [3]
The Air Force previously authorized continued use of a number of aviation badges originally issued by the U.S. Army during World War II. Such badges are no longer authorized and are now categorized as obsolete badges.
An Air Force Occupational Badge is a military badge of the United States Air Force which is awarded to those members of the Air Force community who are engaged in duties "other than flying". The purpose of the Air Force Occupational Badge is to denote and recognize training, education and qualifications received in a particular career field and to provide recognition in an outwardly displayed badge.[1] [5]
The first Air Force Occupational Badges began appearing on Air Force uniforms in the late 1950s. Prior to this time, the only Air Force badges authorized were the Pilot Badge and other aeronautical rating badges, such as the Navigator Badge and Flight Surgeon Badge.
The following operations insignia are worn as beret crests on specific Air Force berets instead of the left breast of Air Force uniforms. Both the breast insignia and the following beret crests signify the same thing, an Air Force specialty.[6]
As of 17 January 2014, Airmen are authorized to wear any qualification/skill badge they have earned on Air Force uniforms. With the exception of the new Air Force Combat Diver Badges, the other qualification badges listed in this section are specifically awarded by the Air Force as well as other armed services of the U.S. Department of Defense.[1] [4]
See main article: Identification badges of the Uniform Services of the United States. Sources:[1]
| Duty/Qualification | Approved tab/patch | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Infrared | Spice brown | ||
| Administration | ADMIN | ADMIN | |
| Advanced Air Advisor Tab (Authorized for permanent wear) | |||
| Advanced Fighter Aircraft Integrated Avionics | TECH | TECH | |
| Aerospace Ground Equipment | AGE | AGE | |
| Aerospace Physiology Enterprise | PHYS | PHYS | |
| Aerospace Propulsion | ENGS | ENGS | |
| Air Advisor Tab (Authorized for permanent wear) | |||
| Air Battle Manager | ABM | ABM | |
| Air Transportation | PORT | PORT | |
| Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance | A-ISR | A-ISR | |
| Aircraft Armament Systems | WPNS | WPNS | |
| Aircraft Electric & Environmental Systems | E⚡️E | E⚡️E | |
| Aircraft Fuel Systems | FUELS | FUELS | |
| Aircraft Hydraulic Systems | HYDRO | HYDRO | |
| Aircraft Maintenance | MX | MX | |
| Aircraft Metals Technology | MTECH | MTECH | |
| Aircraft Structural Maintenance | ASM | ASM | |
| Aircrew Egress Systems | EJECT | EJECT | |
| Aircrew Flight Equipment | AFE | AFE | |
| Airfield Management | AFLD | AFLD | |
| Airman Dorm Leader | ADL | ADL | |
| Air Force Special Warfare Mission Support | SWMS | SWMS | |
| Air Mobility Liaison Officer | AMLO | AMLO | |
| Air Launched Cruise Missile Maintenance | ALCM | ALCM | |
| Air Traffic Control | ATC | ATC | |
| Arctic Tab (Authorized for permanent wear)[7] | |||
| Aviation Resource Management | AVMGT | AVMGT | |
| Avionics | AVI | AVI | |
| Avionics Test Station and Equipment | AIS | AIS | |
| Backshop Avionics PODs | PODS | PODS | |
| Base Defense Group | BDG | BDG | |
| Career Assistance Advisor | CA | CA | |
| Civil Engineer | CE | CE | |
| Career Enlisted Aviator | CEA | CEA | |
| Chaplains, Religious Affairs | HC | HC | |
| Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear | CBRN | CBRN | |
| Combat Aviation Advisor (Tab version authorized for permanent wear) | |||
CAA | CAA | ||
| Combat Controller | CCT | CCT | |
| Command and Control Battle Management Operations | C2BMO | C2BMO | |
| Command and Control Operations | C2OPS | C2OPS | |
| Combat Aviation Advisor (With documented SEI, authorized for permanent wear) | CAA | CAA | |
| Combat Controller | CCT | CCT | |
| Combat Rescue Officer | CRO | CRO | |
| Contingency Response | CR | CR | |
| Contingency Contracting Officer | CCO | CCO | |
| Contracting Utilization Field | PK | PK | |
| Cyber career fields (AFSCs: 1D7XX, 17DXA, 17SXX) | CYBER | CYBER | |
| Deployable Aircraft Ground Response Element | DAGRE | DAGRE | |
| Development and Training | D&T | D&T | |
| Developmental Engineering Utilization Field | EN | EN | |
| Director/Commander/Command Chief Executive Assistants | EXEC | EXEC | |
| Education and Training | TRNG | TRNG | |
| Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer | EPLO | EPLO | |
| Electric Power Production | POWER | POWER | |
| Electrical Systems | ELEC | ELEC | |
| Engineering | ENGR | ENGR | |
| Equal Opportunity | EO | EO | |
| Expeditionary Air Ground Liaison Element | EAGLE | EAGLE | |
| Expeditionary Communications (AFSCs: 1D7XXW, 17DXB) | XCOMM | XCOMM | |
| Explosive Ordnance Disposal | EOD | EOD | |
| Financial Management & Comptroller | FM | FM | |
| Fire Protection (Note: authorized on two-piece flight duty uniform only) | FIRE | FIRE | |
| First Sergeant | 1SGT | 1SGT | |
| Force Protection | FP | FP | |
| Foreign Area Officer | FAO | FAO | |
| Forward Area Refueling Point | FARP | FARP | |
| Fuel (Petroleum) | POL | POL | |
| Ground Transportation | GT | GT | |
| Heating, Ventilation, Air-condition & Refrigeration | HVACR | HVACR | |
| High Frequency Global Communications Systems | HFGCS | HFGCS | |
| Independent Duty Medical Technician | IDMT | IDMT | |
| Information Operations | PSYOP | PSYOP | |
| Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance | ISR | ISR | |
| International Enlisted Engagements Manager | IEEM | IEEM | |
| Joint Air Component Coordination Element | JACCE | JACCE | |
| Judge Advocate General Corps | JAGC | JAGC | |
| Logistics Plans | PLNR | PLNR | |
| Maintenance Management Analysis, Maintenance Management Production | MXMGR | MXMGR | |
| Manpower | MNPWR | MNPWR | |
| Master Resilience Trainers | MRT | MRT | |
| Material Management | SUP | SUP | |
| Medical (Any provider, provider extender, nurse, or 4NXXX; Any medical AFSCs certified in TCCC tier II or higher) | MED | MED | |
| Military Postal Service | MPS | MPS | |
| Missile Alert Facility Manager | MAFM | MAFM | |
| Missile & Space System Elect Maintenance, Missile & Space Systems Maintenance, Missile & Space Facilities | 2MO | 2MO | |
| Mobility Combat Systems Officer | CSO | CSO | |
| Multicapable Airman | MCA | MCA | |
| Multi-Domain Command and Control | 13O | 130 | |
| Munitions and Missile Maintenance | MUNS | MUNS | |
| Munitions Systems | AMMO | AMMO | |
| Navigator | NAV | NAV | |
| Nondestructive Inspection | NDI | NDI | |
| Nuclear and Missile Operations, Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Maintenance | ICBM | ICBM | |
| Nuclear Weapons (Note: NUCMX and 2W2X1 patches also authorized) | NUKES | NUKES | |
| Office of Special Investigations | OSI | OSI | |
| Operations Management | OPSMG | OPSMG | |
| Operations Research Analyst | OR | OR | |
| Pararescue | PJ | PJ | |
| Pavement & Construction Equipment | DIRT | DIRT | |
| Personnel | PRSNL | PRSNL | |
| Pest Management | ENTO | ENTO | |
| Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory | PMEL | PMEL | |
| Public Affairs (Note: CTCS identifier authorized for combat camera crews) | PA | PA | |
| Quality Assurance | QA | QA | |
| Radar, Airfield, Weather Systems (Airfield and Radar Systems,Radar Systems, Airfield Systems) | RAWS | RAWS | |
| Raven | RAVEN | RAVEN | |
| Readiness NCO | RNCO | RNCO | |
| Recce/Survey/Electronic Warfare Officer | EWO | EWO | |
| Recce/Survey/Electronic Warfare Pilot, Mobility Pilot | PILOT | PILOT | |
| Resilience Training Assistants | RTA | RTA | |
| Safety | SFTY | SFTY | |
| Scientific Utilization Field | SCI | SCI | |
| Security Forces | SF | SF | |
| Senior Contracting Official | SCO | SCO | |
| Senior Material-Upper Echelon, Acquisition Utilization Field | PM | PM | |
| Services | SVS | SVS | |
| Sexual Assault Response Coordinator | SARC | SARC | |
| Space Launch Maintenance | SPACE | SPACE | |
| Special Reconnaissance | SR | SR | |
| Special Tactics Officer | STO | STO | |
| Staff Weather Officer | SWO | SWO | |
| Structural | 3E3 | 3E3 | |
| Staff Weather Officer | SWO | SWO | |
| Special Tactics Officer | STO | STO | |
| Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape | SERE | SERE | |
| Tactical Air Control Party | TACP | TACP | |
| Tactical Aircraft Maintenance, Airlift/Special Mission Aircraft Maintenance, Refuel/Bomber Aircraft Maintenance | APG | APG | |
| Tactical Aircraft Maintenance (5th Generation), Helicopter/Tiltrotor Aircraft Maintenance, Remotely Piloted Aircraft Maintenance | MECH | MECH | |
| Tactical Call Sign (e.g. A01) | HR44 | B06 | |
| Test and Evaluation | TEST | TEST | |
| Traffic Management | TMO | TMO | |
| Unit Deployment Manager | UDM | UDM | |
| Unlimited Warrant Contracting Officer | UNLTD | UNLTD | |
| Verification and Checkout Equipment Maintenance | VACE | VACE | |
| Vehicle Management | VM | VM | |
| Water and Fuel Systems Maintenance | WFSM | WFSM | |
| Weapons System Evaluation Program | WSEP | WSEP | |
| Weather | WX | WX | |
| Weather and Environmental Services Officer | WESO | WESO | |