Naval Flight Officer Badge
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The Naval Flight Officer Badge is a decoration of the United States military which is awarded to those aviators of the Navy and Marine Corps who have qualified as Naval Flight Officers onboard military aircraft. The decoration is similar in design to the Naval Aviator Badge, consisting of a pair of golden wings, a shield, and crossed anchors.
The Naval Flight Officer Badge is identical for both branches and is awarded 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 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 training at NASA and have subsequently participated in a space flight more than 50 miles above the Earth.
The United States Coast Guard equivalent of the Naval Flight Officer Badge is known as the Coast Guard Flight Officer Badge.
