Coast Guard Flight Officer Badge - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Coast Guard Flight Officer Badge is a military badge

Military badges of the United States

Military badges of the United States are awards authorized by the United States armed forces that signify rating, qualification, or accomplishment in several career fields, and also serve as identification devices for personnel occupying certain assignments. Personal recognition is granted to...

of the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

that was issued until approximately 1988.

A Naval Aviation Observer insignia for Coast Guard personnel was first created in 1920 as a means of recognizing Coast Guard co-pilots and aircraft in-flight support personnel. The badge was the equivalent of the Naval Aviation Observer insignia

Observer Badge

The Observer Badge is a military badge of the United States military which dates to the First World War. The badge was issued to co-pilots, navigators, and flight support personnel who had received a variation on the training necessary for the standard Pilot's Badge...

for USN and USMC personnel. During the Second World War, issuance of the Coast Guard Aviation Observer insignia reached its peak, and the decoration was awarded throughout the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. In the late 1960s, the Coast Guard Aviation Observer insignia began to be phased out due to a change in the structure of aviation training and the elimination of the title of Coast Guard Aviation Observers from approved aviation billets.

In the mid-1980s, the Coast Guard Flight Officer insignia was briefly reinstated in the Coast Guard when the service took temporary custody of two E-2C Hawkeye aircraft from the U.S. Navy. This was part of an initiative to stand up a larger complement of Coast Guard E-2C aircraft, primarily in the counternarcotics and drug interdiction roles, augmented by Coast Guard HC-130

HC-130

The Lockheed HC-130 is an extended-range, search and rescue and Combat search and rescue version of the C-130 Hercules transport. The HC-130H and HC-130J versions are operated by the United States Coast Guard in a SAR and maritime reconnaissance role. The HC-130P and HC-130N Combat King models...

s that would also be equipped with similar radar systems. The Coast Guard Flight Officer insignia is similar to the Naval Flight Officer

Naval Flight Officer

A Naval Flight Officer is an aeronautically designated commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps that specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots per se, but they may perform many "co-pilot" functions, depending on the type of aircraft...

insignia, minus the crossed sea anchors. The service recruited E-2C NFOs from the Navy, recommisioning them in the Coast Guard, as well as selecting a number of serving Coast Guard officers for NFO training.

A fatal Coast Guard E-2C aircraft mishap in the early 1990s spelled the end of the Coast Guard E-2C and enhanced HC-130 programs and the service transferred the remaining E-2C aircraft back to the Navy.

In the 21st-century Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Flight Officer Badge has been declared obsolete, although it is still authorized for wear on Coast Guard uniforms.

See also