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Help on an Air Force patch. Viet era


irish
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Does anyone recognize this patch? It is on a Party suit from the Viet era. I have never seen this one before. thanks for any help.

http://T2eC16JysE9sy0hWgBRY4v-oBbw60_57_zpsa202452e.jpg

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No other Squadron type patches on the suit. It is a Thai suit to women Lt Col. Direct embroidered command pilot wings and a missle operator badge embroidered into the pocket. Shoulders would have a U.S and Thai flags

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Johnny Signor

with the suit having a "missle opererators" emblem the other big squadron patch is most likely a Missle Squadron .

Johnny

 

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No other Squadron type patches on the suit. It is a Thai suit to women Lt Col. Direct embroidered command pilot wings and a missle operator badge embroidered into the pocket. Shoulders would have a U.S and Thai flags

 

Well, I guess that doesn't help with this one! Would there have been a female Command Pilot during the Vietnam era? Could the suit be for a guys wife perhaps?

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Well, I guess that doesn't help with this one! Would there have been a female Command Pilot during the Vietnam era? Could the suit be for a guys wife perhaps?

 

That is possible, I thought the same thing. The name is Joan Baird.

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firefighter

I'm with 'skip', look's like an A.F. Academy patch.Could have been a graduate from the AFA? Looks like an F-105 in the background?

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Johnny Signor

The suit having "Command" pilot wings and a missle ops badge I doubt it's an AF Academy unit , and I think the aircraft depicted could be a "Mace" missle or one of those types that had swept wings and shape .Possibly one of the "Drone" types .

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firefighter

The suit having "Command" pilot wings and a missle ops badge I doubt it's an AF Academy unit , and I think the aircraft depicted could be a "Mace" missle or one of those types that had swept wings and shape .Possibly one of the "Drone" types .

 

 

Could be but still leaning toward AFA.Has the falcon on a gloved hand and the plane/object in the background looks to have a canopy? Could be a Thunderbird type patch? Just because its on the party suit doesn't mean the owner couldn't have added it on at a later time.

 

Can we see the rest of the suit?

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Could be a party suit done for a wife as stated, maybe even a unit secretary. There were no female pilots in the USAF until the 70s I think, and missile crews were men only until the late 70s. That patch could have a bottom tab cut off, but it's hard to tell for sure. It sure looks training related The AFA is full of folks wearning command pilot wings and missile badges as faculty and staff.

Randy

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firefighter

There was a 557th TFS, 1962-1970.They were stationed at Cam Ranh AB,SVN from 14NOV65-31MAR70.Can't find a pic of the 557th TFS patch.

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http://en.wikipedia....ning_Squadron

 

 

Check out the link for 557th

 

Thanks Bobby, that is the patch. So it appears Viet service.

 

The idea of this being a wife suit makes sense. In one of the pockets was a 81TFS squadron patch with a Wild Weasel Tab. This unit was in W. Germany in 1973. I will post some pictures.

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firefighter

 

Here is the CRB Patch

 

 

I found that one.I meant an official squadron patch.The only ones I could find were for the 557th Flying Training SQ.

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The 557th patch was approved on 9/8/75, so the patch belongs to the 557th Flying Training Squadron, USAF Academy. It looks like the lower tab of the patch was removed.

 

Mark

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firefighter

The 557th patch was approved on 9/8/75, so the patch belongs to the 557th Flying Training Squadron, USAF Academy. It looks like the lower tab of the patch was removed.

 

Mark

 

 

Thank's.No wonder I couldn't find a Vietnam era design.

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The 557 TFS patch with the spook pictured before by Terry was used from 64-70 when they were flying F-4 Phantoms at MacDill AFB and in SEA. While not officially approved, it's what they used. The unit was reactivared at the AFA in 74 as a FTS, and the FTS patch approved in 75. It's possible this suit was for the spouse who went the the AFA as an instructor. The suit made in SEA and the insignia added later. Many party suits had patches added long after the war. As the wearers went on to other units, they would add these as well if they desired. There are no hard rules when it comes to modified/party flight suits.

Randy

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I did look at the patch closer and it does appear to have had the tab removed. the only thing I can see is that it needed to fit in a small area on the suit. If the tab had been left on, it would have been in the area occupied by the lower pockert zipper. To Randy's point this suit likely was used over a period of time. The upper sleeves have areas where you can see the small flags traditionally worn "Thai/US etc" have been removed. In the upper left pocket I found and 81st TFS patch " German Made" withan attached Wild Weasel tab. I can see nowhere that it was ever sewn to the suit.

 

the suit itself was made by Mahurajah at Ubon Thailand. So a well travelled piece.

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