Auxiliary Pilot Badge
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The Glider, Service and Liaison Pilot Badges were service badges of the United States Army Air Force which were issued during the years of the Second World War. The badges appeared as the standard USAAF Pilot Badge with one of three letters centered on the badges’ shield, or escutcheon. The letter on the badge indicated the service type.
The Glider Pilot wings was issued to soldiers who completed training as pilots of military gliders. The wings were issued only during the Second World War, and Glider Pilots often said that the "G" on the shield stood for "Guts". These wings should not be confused with the Glider Infantry Badge which was created in 1944 to recognize glider infantrymen of U.S. Airborne Divisions[1].
The success of German glider-borne forces early in World War II catapulted the Air Corps into a glider program in February 1941. Glider pilots were unique in that they had no parachutes, no motors and no second chances. In December 1941, plans called for training 1,000 AAF glider pilots, but eventually about 5,500 received their wings. Most glider pilots came from enlisted ranks -- all were volunteers. Upon graduation, enlisted men would be promoted to staff sergeant (or would retain present grade if higher) while officers would train in grade. But after Nov. 21, 1942, all enlisted graduates were appointed as Flight Officers (equal to the then existing rank of Warrant Officer Junior Grade (WO 1) upon completing advanced glider training.
The Glider Pilot wings are currently awarded to cadet instructor pilots at the USAF Academy glider flight training program, by permission of the Academy Superintendent and the National WW2 Glider Pilots' Association.
The Service Pilot Badge was awarded to non-military personnel who performed military-related duties such as pilot or aircrew training, gunnery training, aircraft courier missions and aircraft ferrying.
The Liaison Pilot Badge was presented to enlisted military pilots assigned as to liaison units of the USAAF. These units flew "...light single-engine liaison aircraft. Included were many enlisted aviation students who washed out of pilot training after having soloed and were given the opportunity to become liaison pilots. Flight training consisted of about 60 hours of flying time and stressed such procedures as short field landings and takeoffs over obstacles, low altitude navigation, first aid, day and night reconnaissance, aerial photography and aircraft maintenance.
Unarmored and unarmed -- except perhaps for a .45 pistol or .30 carbine -- these men in 28 different squadrons flew low and slow with wheels, skis or floats. They flew varied and often hazardous missions in nearly every theater -- medical evacuation from forward areas; delivering munitions, blood plasma, mail and other supplies to front lines; ferrying personnel; flying photographic or intelligence missions; serving as air observers for fighters or bombers; and other critical yet often unpublicized missions.
Liaison Pilot Duties During the campaign to recapture the Philippines, pilots of the 25th Liaison Squadron flew a dozen L-5 aircraft in short 30-minute flights (Dec. 10-25, 1944) delivering supplies (including a 300-bed hospital) to the 6,000 men of the 11th Airborne Division isolated in the mountains of Leyte.
In another mission, an Army officer wounded in the chest in New Guinea was evacuated in a liaison aircraft as the pilot pumped a portable respirator with one hand while he flew the aircraft with the other. In the northwestern United States, some liaison pilots flew forest patrols (Project Firefly), watching for fires ignited by incendiary bombs carried across the Pacific beneath unmanned Japanese high-altitude balloons."
Following the close of the Second World War, the Auxiliary Pilot Badges fell into disuse and there were no further issuances. With the creation of the United States Air Force, the three Auxiliary Pilot Badges were declared obsolete.
