Navigator Badge
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The Navigator Badge is a military qualification badge of the United States Armed Forces which was first created during the Second World War. The current USAF badge is designated by Air Force Instructions as the Navigator/Observer Badge and is issued to rated officers in both rating categories.
The badge recognizes the Aeronautical Rating of Navigator. The original Navigator badge was a successor to the Observer Badge, which was issued to military aviation navigators in the 1920s and 1930s. With an increase in aircraft technology, however, the Navigator, Bombardier, Engineer, and Gunner badges were created to recognize the advanced training and qualifications required of various aircrew members.
The original Navigator badge was issued by the Army Air Forces and consisted of an armillary sphere centered between two wings. The badge was similar to the Aviator Badge and the Aircrew Badge. In 1947, with the establishment of the U.S. Air Force, the Aircraft Observer, Navigator, and Bombardier badges were replaced with a single design, with the Air Force shield centered between two wings. At the same time, the aeronautical ratings of Navigator and Bombardier were merged into a single rating. The Aircraft Observer rating continued for Electronic Warfare Officers (EWOs), but eventually EWOs were awarded the Navigator-Bombardier aeronautical rating. Today, the only personnel awarded the Observer rating are otherwise unrated U.S. Air Force officers who complete NASA Mission Specialist (astronaut) training.
The current Navigator/Observer Badge is issued in three degrees: Basic, Senior, and Master. The degree of the Navigator/Observer Badge is determined by years of flying service in the Air Force and by logged hours of flight time or flying duty assignment time. The degrees are annotated by a star (senior) and wreath (master) centered above the badge.
For Navy and Marine Corps officers, the equivalent of the Navigator Badge is known as the Naval Flight Officer Badge. The Marine Corps also issues the Marine Aerial Navigator Badge to enlisted personnel. The Army has no equivalent to the Navigator Badge.