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Wierd Shoulder Boards


AndrewA74
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Hi,

These two shoulder boards were given to me. I was wondering what they were. MFG by Vanguard and they have the Anchor button. Any help is appreciated.

Andrew

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Well... the ship's propeller symbol is used by both the US Navy and Coast Guard to indicate Engineer (including Nuclear) or Machinist, so Merchant Mariners probably do so too?

 

The angled "stripes" are probably rates/ranks, but they are not to be found in that format among enlisted or officers of USN or USCG that I can discover.

 

In any event, definitely not aviation - naval or otherwise.

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Some additional information, retyped.

 

Well... the ship's propeller symbol is used by both the US Navy and Coast Guard to indicate Engineer (including Nuclear) or Machinist, and so do Merchant Mariners.

 

The angled "stripes" are probably rates/ranks, but they are not to be found in that format among enlisted or officers of USN or USCG or Merchant Mariner that I can discover... all 3 of those are perpendicular straight across the shoulder board.

 

And, I find no US naval example of a propeller within a circle of any kind.

 

In any event, definitely not aviation - naval or otherwise.

 

Not much help, I realize.

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KurtA got it right, Merchant Marine Academy.

Good to know...

 

Came to find out that the US Naval Academy 2nd & 3rd Classmen do show diagonal stripes on their shoulder boards, but with anchors... no matter where I looked could not locate what Kurt got right.

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  • 3 years later...
Hi,

These two shoulder boards were given to me. I was wondering what they were. MFG by Vanguard and they have the Anchor button. Any help is appreciated.

Andrew

Merchant Marine Academy is correct. The propeller in a circle was worn by midshipmen who were on track to become engineer officers.

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  • 6 years later...

Specifically, they denote cadet/midshipman 2/c (third year students) at USMMA. The symbol indicates they are studying for engineering officer position versus deck .

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  • 1 year later...
ShooterMcGavin

USMMA and SUNY Maritime have similar insignia at least for the basic grades of midshipmen (or cadets, as SUNY calls them.) I believe the USCGA has the same system as well, minus the specialty insignia for deck (fouled anchor) and engineers (propellor.)

 

The 4 classes have a basic structure but the 1st Class (seniors) branch out more if they're awarded a specific command responsibility during their final year. SUNY is the only school in the bunch (possibly the only regimented college in the country) that utilizes CWO2 insignia for some cadets as well.

 

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