USAF Senior Parachute Badge

[Old Marine]

Hi All,

 

I am pretty sure that this is an Air Force Senior Parachutist Qualification Badge. Any one have any idea as to when this badge was used?

 

Thanks

 

Dennis

 

[Old Marine]

The back of the AF Para Badge. It's marked Sterling and what looks like "1K".

 

I'd appreciate any comments, opinions or observations.

 

[Teamski]

I ruthlessly stole this off of an E-Bay guide:

 

"Original (1st issue) U.S. Air Force Parachute badge. Issued officially from 1956 through 1964 when the Air Force went to the U.S. Army style badge. Variations include: 7 or 9 risers, vaulted (convexed) or flat; basic, senior or master grades; sterling or non-sterling, clutchback, from various manufactures. I've identified the following: NS Meyer, AC Frank, HLP, Vanguard, Krew,Denmark, Gemsco and unmarked. There may be more, but I don't know. The shape of the shield varies slightly between vaulted and flat. Shown is a Senior badge in sterling, 7 risers, flat, clutchback from N.S. Meyer, NY. The 9 riser, vaulted varieties would be considered early "type 1" badges and were very short lived (less that 2 years). The 7 riser flat badges are the "type 2" later issue badges. And then I have a Vanguard marked 7 riser, flat badge that is domed (flat back with a domed front)! This would be a "type 2" badge. Sterling and non-sterling examples exist in both types. Bullion badges were made. I had one made by Gemsco in it's original sales plasitc box. The bullion badges were prototypes and never authorized for wear by the USAF. Then there were cloth badges that were made "in country" during the early 1960's by personnel stationed in Japan that were authorized the badge. These are perhaps the rarest of all of the first issue badges including sterling. "

 

I personally have seen them go for between $30 and $75. James Polder had them for $75 in his catalog.

 

-Ski

[Old Marine]

Ski,

 

Thanks for the information

 

I figured sometime in the 60's.

[Wailuna]

...I ruthlessly stole this off of an E-Bay guide: "Original (1st issue) U.S. Air Force Parachute badge. Issued officially from 1956 through 1964 when the Air Force went to the U.S. Army style badge....

That's interesting material about the "1st issue" USAF parachute badge but those wear dates may be open to interpretation. The Master Sergeant pictured below is wearing the Army Parachutist Badge about 1960 while serving as an instructor at USAF Survival School, Stead AFB, Nevada, and maybe earlier, but definitely before 1964, as he was promoted to Senior Master Sergeant March 1, 1962 (he was parachutist qualified in 1956). Note also that he still wears the ROK PUC over the right pocket.

 

 

[jules118]

You could try contacting Don Strobaugh, who trades as milbadge on ebay. I believe he was a USAF parachutist from the late 50's or early 60's onwards as well as being an airborne wings collector even back then. I suspect that he would have a fairly good idea about the dates around when these badges evolved and what changes occurred with the insignia in his trade.

[QED4]

I would guess he is wearing the Army badge because he went through the Army school and was awarded the badge by the Army, probably part of survival training preparing him to be an instructor at the AF school.

[Wailuna]

...I would guess he is wearing the Army badge because he went through the Army school and was awarded the badge by the Army...

Maybe. I have his records but can't refer to them now, as I am on furlough and away from home. He was in USAF when he became airborne qualified in 1956 (at Stead AFB or Ent AFB as I recall) but he may have trained by the Army at Ft. Benning. Does anyone know when and where USAF operated its own airborne training course?

[triplecanopy]

In 1956, The Air Force leadership decided that it was time to adopt a distinctive Air Force parachutist badge, so they sent a letter to all Air Force parachutist organizations asking for design proposals. Upon comparing notes later, all 3 of the Combat Control units sent in variations of the standard Air Force aviation wings with a parachute in the center and in 3 classes, Basic, Senior and Master. One of the test parachutists at El Centro was CWO Larry Lambert who had made the first test ejection seat jump from a jet in the United States in 1946 and with 600+ jumps was considered to be the #1 jumper in the Air Force. He and an officer in the Pentagon designed the shield style parachutist badge that was adopted by the Air Force. It had no wings and was similar in design to the Medical Technician and Nurse badges, but had an open parachute on the blue and white shield of the U.S. Air Force. In 1956 the first Air Force Master Parachutist badge was pinned on CWO Lambert by the Secretary of the Air Force at a ceremony in the Pentagon.

The first USAF parachute badges were manufactured in 1956 (Type I) and were thick, slightly concave, either sterling or non-sterling and with 9 suspension lines under the canopy. The supply of these badges was used up by 1957 and the follow-on badges (Type II) were manufactured in a thinner, flat design (or flat, slightly curved) in sterling and non-sterling and with only 7 suspension lines under the canopy. The USAF parachute badges were not issued or authorized in cloth. The Combat Control Team assigned to Japan in 1956 however made the only known cloth examples. They had cloth USAF parachute badges manufactured locally and wore them on their fatigue uniforms until approximately 1958. Upon their return to US soil, they were ordered to remove them from their uniforms. The Air Force parachutist badges were also proposed in wire bullion for Mess Dress uniform wear and a few were made by eager manufacturers, but they were never officially adopted or worn. Instead, the standard full size silver bullion on black Army parachutist style dress wings were worn on Air Force Mess Dress uniforms.

In 1963, after 7 years of gripes, complaints and new design proposals for aviation-style parachutist wings, the Air Force moved in its wise and mysterious ways and discontinued the distinctive Air Force parachutist badges completely. They reverted back to the standard Army parachutist badges except for white on blue cloth versions for wear on the Air Force fatigue uniform.

...Information provided by Col Don Strobaugh USAF CCT

[triplecanopy]

The shield style USAF parachutist badges were regulation awards in the Air Force for approximately seven years, 1956-1963.

In 1956, the US Air Force decided their parachute badge should be distinctive to their service. Before 1956 the USAF parachutists were using the same parachutist badges as the US Army. The qualifications for earning the new USAF badges were somewhat different than the previously used Army regulations. The basic and senior award requirements were the essentially the same, but to earn the master USAF parachutist badge, one had to have five years of parachuting experience.

The USAF parachute badge design was also extremely unpopular. It was modeled after the US Air Force medical badges (see illustrations below) and was sometimes mistaken as such. A wave of discontent erupted over the design of the USAF parachute badge. The Army version had upswept wings with a parachute in the center. The Air Force parachute badge was a wingless shield with a parachute on a blue and white enameled background. Some old jumpers actually said that it looked like ‘something out of a Cracker Jack box’ and clung to their old Army parachute wings.

Eventually because of increasing demand from the field, the USAF decided to revert back to the Army style parachutist badges in 1963. The parachutists of the U.S. Army and Air Force wear the same parachute qualification badges to this day.

The old USAF parachute badges were made in both sterling silver as well as other metal alloys. Several different manufacturers produced them (see tables 1 and 2). In 1963 they were discontinued for wear and are now considered obsolete.

If you are interested in additional information on this subject, my book is available on eBay:

 

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

Parachute Badges

A Collector’s Identification Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By

Robert K. Suchke

[tomcatter]

This is a USAF Senior Parachutist qualification badge. This badge was used only between 1956 and 1963.
"1K" hallmark may be Krew Inc. (Attleboro, MA). Sterling marked examples are quite scarce.

 

This is a Meyer badge (basic and not sterling) for comparison:

[Boy Howdy]

Just picked this up off of the Bay.

I'm guessing this is a Type 1? Circa 1956?

[triplecanopy]

7 hours ago, Boy Howdy said:

Just picked this up off of the Bay.

I'm guessing this is a Type 1? Circa 1956?  Your Type I USAF parachute badge was made by NS Meyer.  These parachute badges were in use from 1956 to 1963 when the USAF decided to use a distinctive Air Force design to denote parachute qualification. The badge was very unpopular due to it being similar to the Air Force medical badges (Nurse, dentist, etc) so the USAF switched back to the standard Army parachutist badges and they continue to use those to this day.

These old USAF Parachute badges have become highly collectible as they tell an interesting part of USAF history. I wrote a book about them that is available on eBay if anyone want to know more.

 

 

 

[Boy Howdy]

What's the title of your book?

[triplecanopy]

United States Air Force Parachute Badges a collectors guide. Same as above on a 2013 post. You can look on eBay under Air Force parachute and it should pop up.

All the best.

robert

[Old Marine]

Robert thanks for the information.