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The USAF Parachutist Insignia 1956-63
I’ve never quite understood the AFA summer camp skydiving merit badge program and its correlation to the same wings a paratrooper receives.
I agree. The glider wings cadets get can’t be worn after they graduate. Perhaps they should use these wings for their skydiving program.
I thought the same thing and would commonly refer to Acadamey wings as “candy wings”, until I saw the program in person. You should think of the 490 course as a confidence/leadership course more than anything.
This is the only place I know of that will allow someone to make their first freefall jump completely solo. USPA requires two AFFIs to hold a first time jumper throughout their entire jump. MFF requires one MFFI with a mandatory redock on the bottom end to ensure stability/parachute deployment. Cadets don’t get that safety net… exit, count to 12 (I believe) and pull, takes balls not to have someone there to hold your hand while cheating suicide.
The most important reason why wings are worn post graduation is that historically the 490 program was equivilant to SL school at Benning. To this day wings earned prior to 1994 allow you to perform static line operations with everyone else.
Just food for thought.
But they don’t anymore, that’s over 20 years gone. Now, before you can be a real paratrooper you’ve got to go to Benning.
I currently jump with a LtCol who earned his wings at the Academy. Wings earned prior to Aug 1994 means they graduated in ’97, so there are a few left, but admittedly not many, and soon there won’t be any.
I’m just pointing out that historically those wings did mean something, and it’s a badge they should be proud to wear due to the one of a kind way they earned it.
The skydiving they do at the Academy has zero to do with tactical, static line parachuting. It also has very little to do with MFF operations. They participate in a civilian sporting pursuit and not a military skill.
Confidence building. I can agree to that although I don’t agree to the insignia. I never went to jump school so my opinion is less than anyone else’s I suppose. I was in a unit (Air Force) that sent folks to Benning quite regularly and heard often the discussions of parachutist vs. paratrooper. The officer mentality in the Air Force and their unfailing knowledge of superiority will never relinquish something they can point to on their chest.
Shit, let’s start giving out badges for confidence building.
Isn’t that what Airborne School has become though? What is the likelihood that most of the folks in those classes will ever perform a combat jump? All it is now for a ton of the people who go there is a confidence course.
Mike P,
The basic Airborne course (similar to other skill schools in the military) is tasked to generate graduates with entry level parachutists skills to meet service requirements.
The individual graduate – even those that go directly to airborne slots – may never do a combat jump but the point is they collectively provide a capability to the services.
My uncle was in the 11th Airborne in WW II. He never made a combat jump. But I can assure you that when he saw ground combat in the Pacific the confidence he gained in jump school was still valuable.
So of course the graduates gain confidence in learning a challenging skill and overcoming their fear reaction. But that is a by product of the course not the purpose.
SSD,
Thanks for posting this. An interesting piece of Airborne history I was unaware of.
TLB
I served over half of my career in jump billets even though I never made a combat jump. We train to provide fighting capability not for recreation.
Btw, leg, right? The only guys who question the nation’s ability to vertically envelop an objective never jumped out of an aircraft.
As a Airborne Militaria collector, these are among some of the hardest items to find,and when you do find them, 9 times out of 10 they aren’t cheap.
They look gad-awful as a Parachutist insignia/qual badge,and the USAF made a good call returning to the Army’s Airborne wings.
The fact that the caption states that the level is based on “successful” jumps and may be mistaken for medical insignia seems like some funky karma right there.