WWII era USCG - CPO Aviator

[rustywings]

Never authorized by the U.S. Coast Guard, but the matching silver shields sure give these pieces some flair. I've had this U.S.C.G. Aviator badge and Chief Petty Officer's cap piece for many years, but have not seen any photographic evidence of its use. Possibly a one-of-a-kind wing made for some discriminating CPO Aviator?

 

 

[rustywings]

Simple "AMICO" hallmark. Appears to be a gilt wash over brass wing.

 

 

[rustywings]

Back of both pieces...

 

[pfrost]

How do you know it's a USCG wing Russ?

 

The USMC, USCG and USN aviators all were trained with the USN flight schools were all issued the same wings. To my knowledge, there were no individual USCG or USMC wings, just USN Naval Aviator wings. Same thing as the enlisted Naval aviators who also got the gold wings. Or am I missing something?

 

Sure, some USMC guys seemed to have cheated a bit and added EGA's to their wings (typically the small ones that could be worn on a hat or the lapel). It is a neat wing, but I wonder if it wasn't made for some other purpose?

 

Patrick

[KurtA]

How do you know it's a USCG wing Russ?

 

The USMC, USCG and USN aviators all were trained with the USN flight schools were all issued the same wings. To my knowledge, there were no individual USCG or USMC wings, just USN Naval Aviator wings. Same thing as the enlisted Naval aviators who also got the gold wings. Or am I missing something?

 

Sure, some USMC guys seemed to have cheated a bit and added EGA's to their wings (typically the small ones that could be worn on a hat or the lapel). It is a neat wing, but I wonder if it wasn't made for some other purpose?

 

Patrick

 

 

Patrick-

A USCG Chief would wear a silver shield on his cuff and on his hat badge. Being that this wing apparently came with a Coast Guard hat badge, it's not too much of a stretch to think the original owner customized his aviator badge in such a way to give it a Coast Guard "look."

Kurt

[manayunkman]

Regardless of it's purpose it certainly is very attractive.

[rustywings]

Thank you Kurt. That's a good summation.

 

Patrick, the cap piece pictured above is an unaltered USCG/CPO piece. The silver shield on that cap piece is identical to the shield added to the official Aviator wing. Since I bought them together, I assumed they were both from the same Aviator. There's an excellent thread here on the Forum under USCG cap pieces which has some nice examples worn by CPO's through the ages.

 

Thanks guys...I appreciate the interest.

[Leatherwringer]

Awesome wings...That was one proud Coastie to have had them made!

[CliffP]

 

What is there not to like! Very, very nice Russ. Thank you for posting.

 

Cliff

[Costa]

something different--- nice

[rustywings]

Thank you for your comments Gents.

 

I thumbed through my old copies of "Wings & Things of the World" by Russell Huff, this evening and found a reference to this style wing in Volume #16, 1991. On Page #5 is an image of the same type of silver shield Aviator wing with a matching small USCG Officer's cap piece, as worn on an overseas cap, with the following caption: "Coast Guard shield, with 13 stars, applied to USN WWII Pilot, marked AMICO. Customized, unauthorized in the same spirit as USMC wing."

 

So, we know there were at least two of these Aviator badges made. One for a USCG Officer...and the other for a USCG Chief Petty Officer.

[bschwartz]

Well I have to say I'm torn. I'm excited to see such gorgeous and rare wings and I thank you for posting them for that reason. However, you know of my weakness for Naval Aviator badges and yet you still post these beautiful wings to taunt me and add yet another item to my "searching for" list. Curse you Russ, curse you. But thanks for posting them anyhow. It's a simply magnificent set. I also love the modified Kinney Marine wing you posted. You must have hit the Navy/Marine wing honey pot recently.

[tomcatter]

Wow! Top class wings!!!

[rustywings]

In response to an email inquiry:

 

 

[rustywings]

Shield detail:

 

[Tim B]

Russ,

 

Thanks for the additional PIC's of the anchor. At first, I did not believe it was an actual CPO cap device, as the design does not match those of what's described or shown in the 1930's CG Uniform Regs. Those anchors have a specific design and the anchors have fouling, where your example does not.

 

Then, I got thinking more and started to compare it to those early Lifesaving Branch insignia with the life preserver and crossed oars superimposed over the anchor and the anchor on your example compares favorably to some of those versions. At this point, I believe the anchor you show is in fact good, just something that was used before stringent design regs came into practice. Clearly, the design as is, does not meet the design descriptions listed in the CG 1930 uniform regs but...I honestly think back then, the regs were not strictly followed to the letter either.

 

If I may, this will get away from "wings" for a moment, but may be of interest regarding the use of these two devices.

 

 

Some think of these devices shown below as Lifesaving Branch CPO cap devices, others clearly think they are "Keeper" cap insignia. Keepers (Lighthouse and Lightship) were traditionally Warrant Officers and there are other cap insignia that actually are shown as Keeper cap insignia with just a lighthouse or that surrounded by a wreath. I read something (somewhere on that Booker site) that at one point in time after the CPO rank was established in 1920, that some Warrants were reverted or redesignated as CPO's. So, hard to say what these really are as the information is hard to find and I have yet to find anything that discusses or describes this actual insignia.

 

Compare the anchor bodies with what Russ shows on his anchor. IMO, they are the same, less the actual fouling that is missing on Russ' example. Note that on those that have the fouling, the ropes appear to be hand added and not part of the actual insignia. So, perhaps the fouling on Russ' example was lost over time?

 

Tim

 

 

 

 

 

[Tim B]

As the Coast Guard originally was made up of several branches and many came from different federal departments, these could be early versions of insignia where the center device (shield vs life preserver/oars) was added onto the anchor depending on the branch one was attached to. Speculating on my part at this point.

 

Here's a quick comparison of devices that, again speculating, show a difference between what I would consider a possible CPO cap device and that of one for Midshipmen. Note the anchor fouling on the anchor to the right which matches other Midshipmen insignia.

 

Also, on the reverse shot, note how the center life preserver/crossed oars device is mounted on the anchor with the pins clearly protruding through the anchor and bent over to secure it.

[KASTAUFFER]

I believe those are for USCG Surfman,

 

Kurt

[Tim B]

The surfman insignia were within the Lifesaving Branch but, were just plain life preserver & crossed oars, normally either gilt or bronze depending on uniform. I think they eventually went to silver devices.

 

The addition of the anchor, I believe, designated a higher rank (CPO or Keeper) or in the case of the different anchor, possibly Midshipmen also used them. I suppose it's even possible that under less strigent regulations, one could have simply modified a device and used it as he saw fit, but I think that is starting to stretch things.

 

Tim

[manayunkman]

Fantastic insignia TimB.

 

I love this kind of post.

[Tim B]

Thanks, unfortunately, they are not in my collection. I use gathered photos like these to hunt for addtions to my personal collection. I usually use a black background on items I own, so if you see other photos that are not, then they are file PIC's I use to make a point.

 

I should emphasize here that the Coast Guard did not start out as the one organization we know it as of today. Rather, it had it's roots in several areas and government departments, thus early on, there was not any consistency or enforcement of designs in insignia. I used a few examples from the Lifesaving Branch to show that the same design anchor was apparently used in other legit CG insignia of the era, which tells me these may in fact be legit pieces and not, say, a sweetheart pin or fabrication someone just put together.

 

In 1915 the Revenue Cutter Service and the Life-Saving Service combined to form the U.S. Coast Guard. The new service soon had its distinctive uniform characteristics. By the 1920s major changes were seen in Coast Guard uniforms and Coast Guard Aviation came into being the same year. At that time, the aviator badge was described as a winged, fouled anchor with shield, worn on the left breast.

 

The 1930 Coast Guard Uniform Regulations stated the aviator's wings were said to match that of the U.S. Navy aviation badge and in 1941, for the first time, Coast Guard uniforms became officially a modification of Navy regulations. The garments themselves were the same as naval uniforms, only the distinguishing corps devices, buttons, shoulder marks, etc., were distinctively Coast Guard. I should mention that due to the specific nature of the Lifesaving Branch, it was determined to keep their uniforms and insignia as is, at least up till 1943.

 

So, during this timeframe, we continue to see distinctive branch designs incorporated into their respective insignia. The Lifesaving Branch utilized a life preserver & crossed oars design; those in the Lightship and Lighthouse areas had insignia using variations of the lighthouse; the Coast & Geodetic Survey (forerunner to NOAA) used the triangular symbol on roundel, and the Coast Guard proper, to include aviation, used the national shield.

 

So, IMHO, it's entirely plausible that Russ' two badges are in fact 100% legit, just used earlier before strict adherence to design specs were enforced. I think there were what, eight CPO's qualified as Coast Guard Aviators up until the 1960's?

 

Either way, they both look great and yet another example of rare and odd things out there.

 

Tim

[rustywings]

Thank you Tim. I appreciate your shared knowledge and insight. Admittedly, my involvement in studying and collecting U.S. Coast Guard insignia and badges has been minimal over the years. With my Son, my God-Son and my Son-In-Law all being "Coasties," I've been searching for something to collect to honor their service. The historic USCG cap pieces and collar insignia you've shared with us are certainly interesting, unique and very collectible!

 

Russ

[KurtA]

 

 

Here's a quick comparison of devices that, again speculating, show a difference between what I would consider a possible CPO cap device and that of one for Midshipmen. Note the anchor fouling on the anchor to the right which matches other Midshipmen insignia.

 

 

 

The badge on the right is not a midshipman's badge. The line at the top of the anchor goes the opposite way from that of a midshipman badge. (i.e., goes to the viewer's left, while the line on a midshipman badge goes to the viewer's right). I don't what the significance of that is, but bottom line, it's not an enhanced midshipman badge because it is different. Every USN and USCG CPO badge I have seen also has the line going to the viewer's right.

[Tim B]

Kurt,

 

Not sure of the size of your device but I go off images that are titled. The problem I find is, sometimes the same image has multiple titles, depending on who was writing the article. I have yet to find an original period instruction or uniform regulation that shows any of these devices on a plate or in actual wear. I have seen this particular badge listed as Keeper, CPO, and Midshipman.

 

I'll add a couple of file PIC's here for you to compare with, one looks the same as your example, except the line is going to the opposite side. Perhaps a collar set of insignia?? The other plate is from a period sales catalog and you can see three distinctly different devices in red. The lower loop on the bottom of the anchor is, IMO, indicative of a Midshipman insignia and the one that compares in style to your example is the same.

 

I know some early officer collars also had this lower loop, as did the CG Spar (women) emblem, though they also had the prop behind the anchor.

 

Best I can do until I see something concrete and hence, why I am currently researching this area.

 

Tim

[KurtA]

Tim-

My badge (the one of the right in the photo) is a large hat badge size, not collar. It's strange that the line goes the opposite direction of other badges.

Kurt