Aircrew brevet
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- For other uses, see brevet.
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An aircrew brevet is the badge worn on the left breast, above any medal ribbons, by qualified aircrew in the Royal Air Force, British Army, Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and Sri Lanka Air Force.
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[edit] United Kingdom
In the RAF, pilots wear the letters "RAF" in a wreath, surmounted by a crown, with a wing on each side (pilots' brevets are often referred to as "wings"). From April 2003, Weapons Systems Officers/Operators began to be awarded a similar brevet with a single wing. Other aircrew wear a letter or letters (denoting speciality) in a wreath, surmounted by a crown, with a single wing. The only other brevets currently worn are "E" (Air Engineer), "AT" (Airborne Technician), and "FC" (Fighter Controller). Parachute Jumping Instructors (PJIs) wear an open parachute instead of a letter. Obsolete brevets include "N" (Navigator), "LM" (Air Loadmaster), "AE" (Air Electronics Operator), "B" (Bomb Aimer), "AG" (Air Gunner), "AS" (Air Steward), "M" (Meteorological Observer), "QM" (Air Quartermaster), "S" (Air Signaller), and "RO" (Radio Observer). Observers wore a single wing attached directly to the letter "O".
All the RAF brevets mentioned above are normally embroidered in silver, apart for the golden wreath. RNZAF brevets are identical, except the Pilot's wings bear the letters "NZ" instead.
[edit] Australia
RAAF brevets differs from the RAF counterparts mainly in having a crown on all brevets (not just on Pilot's wings) and in normally having blue wreaths. The Pilot's wings has the letters "RAAF"; a similar twin-wing brevet, bearing the Southern Cross, has been introduced for Officer Aircrew in 1998, replacing various single-wing brevets previously worn by Commissioned Officers [1]; however NCO aircrew continue to wear the old single-wing brevets.
