Navigator Badge - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Navigator Badge is a military qualification 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 Armed Forces

United States armed forces

The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...

which was first created during the Second World War. The current USAF badge is designated by Air Force Instructions

Air Force Instructions

An Air Force Instruction is a documented instruction for members of the United States Air Force intended for use by active duty, guard, and reserve members and associated civilians. It is one of many forms of directives published by the Air Force Departmental Publishing Office...

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

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...

, which was issued to military aviation

Military aviation

Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...

navigator

Flight officer

The title flight officer was a military rank used by the United States Armed Forces where it was an air force warrant officer rank. It was also an air force rank in several Commonwealth nations where it was used for female officers and was equivalent to the rank of flight lieutenant...

s in the 1920s and 1930s. With an increase in aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

, 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

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

and consisted of an armillary sphere

Armillary sphere

An armillary sphere is a model of objects in the sky , consisting of a spherical framework of rings, centred on Earth, that represent lines of celestial longitude and latitude and other astronomically important features such as the ecliptic...

centered between two wings. The badge was similar to the Aviator Badge

United States Aviator Badge

A United States Aviator Badge refers to three types of aviation badges issued by the United States military, those being for Army, Air Force, and Naval aviation....

and the Aircrew Badge

Aircrew Badge

The Aircrew Badge, commonly known as Wings, is a qualification badge of the United States military that is awarded by all five branches of armed services to personnel who serve as crew members on board military aircraft. The badge is intended to recognize the training and qualifications required...

. On July 26, 1947 the U.S. Air Force became a Separate Branch of Service. In late 1951 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

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

Mission Specialist

A Mission Specialist is a position held by certain NASA astronauts during Space Shuttle missions. A Mission Specialist is assigned to a limited field of the mission, such as for medical experiments or technical quests....

(astronaut

Astronaut

An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....

) training.

The current USAF 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. There is also an astronaut version of the badge for those who have flown the NASA

NASA

Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

and/or served on the International Space Station. Like its pilot astronaut counterpart, the Navigator/Observer Astronaut Badge is modified by the addition of the astronaut "shooting star" logo over the USAF shield on the wings.

For Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

and Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

officers, the equivalent of the Navigator Badge is known as the Naval Flight Officer insignia and is similar to the Naval Aviator

Naval Aviator

A United States Naval Aviator is a qualified pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.-Naming Conventions:Most Naval Aviators are Unrestricted Line Officers; however, a small number of Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers are also trained as Naval Aviators.Until 1981...

insignia for pilots, being differentiated by two crossed fouled anchors behind the insignia's United States shield, versus the single upright fouled anchor of their pilot counterparts. The 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...

briefly had Naval Flight Officers when they operated E-2 Hawkeye

E-2 Hawkeye

The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, aircraft carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the United States Navy as a replacement for the...

aircraft bailed from the Navy. There is also an astronaut version of the badge for those who have flown the NASA

NASA

Space Shuttle

and/or served on the International Space Station. Like its Naval Avator Astronaut counterpart, the Naval Flight Officer Astronaut Badge is modified by the addition of the astronaut "shooting star" logo over the US shield on the wings.

The Marine Corps also issues the Marine Aerial Navigator insignia to enlisted personnel trained as navigators for the KC-130 and he Coast Guard the Coast Guard Aerial Navigator insignia to enlisted personnel trained as navigators in the HC-130. Unlike their USAF counterpart, the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aviation insignia have no basic, senior or master/command degrees. The Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

has no equivalent to the Navigator Badge.

See also