Air Force patches, insignia, wings & emblems > Links to:

[Bluehawk]

Medals of the world, many many many examples from many nations...

 

Link see:

http://www.medals.org.uk/

[Bluehawk]

Link to NARA researched US Army (and USAF + other) insignia

 

Found by NorBn

 

http://usarmyinsigniahomepage.110mb.com/armyhome.html

[Bluehawk]

This is a truly exhaustive attempt to provide comparative officer ranks insignia for international Air Force (and other military branches)... a place to start in any case.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_military_ranks

 

Specifically the air forces:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_force_officer_ranks

[Bluehawk]

Very important reference for transitional USAAF > USAF uniforms and insignia.

 

Link:

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...c=5846&st=0

[Bluehawk]

US Army Institute of Heraldry (for Army and other branches in general), good for AAS, USAAC, USAAF and general heraldry info.

 

Link:

http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/

[Bluehawk]

From the USAF section of military insignia site, some good AF bullion stuff and unusual things.

 

Pack Rat found it...

 

Link:

http://www.military-insignia.us/Pages/USAi...ceInsignia.html

[Bluehawk]

The link to member wsgravssr's photobucket of USAF patches for trade or sale

 

http://s224.photobucket.com/albums/dd237/w...cket%20patches/

[Mr-X]

Thanks Bluehawk for this awesome bunch of USAF links

[Bluehawk]

Thanks Bluehawk for this awesome bunch of USAF links

Thanks X!

 

Here is tbirdismypride's photobucket of USAF patches

 

http://s524.photobucket.com/albums/cc323/tbirdismypride/

[Bluehawk]

locobuster came up with this great reference to WWII 55th Fighter Group and related matters

 

http://www.55th.org/

[Bluehawk]

Forum Support came up with this link, which will help with connecting period USAF officer dress uniforms to whatever is attached on them:

 

http://usafflagranks.com/usaf_summer_service_dress_coat.html

[Bluehawk]

This link will help authenticate and date militaria Zippo lighters from 1933 - Present which may have USAF insignia on them:

 

http://www.zippoclick.com/collecting/dateCodes.aspx

[Bluehawk]

Teamski turned me on to this source of historical, contemporary and reproduction patches of all kinds... good visual reference and purchase source.

 

Link:

http://www.aeroemblem.com/aeroemblemhome.html

[Johnny Signor]

A good reference tool for WWII aviation Squadron jacket insignia

 

http://members.aol.com/brimiljeep/WebPages...atchMISCPg.html

here's a good one in case no one has found it

 

usafupt.com great for USAF bases and the class patches/years etc

 

Johnny Signor [email protected]

[Bluehawk]

here's a good one in case no one has found it

 

usafupt.com great for USAF bases and the class patches/years etc

 

Johnny Signor [email protected]

Johnny, I copied your post again using a fuller url, so people could click on the link. Thanks for posting it.

 

http://www.usafupt.com

[Bluehawk]

rrobertscv came up with this link to some GI oral histories, which may come in handy when someone is trying to determine provenance of an ID linking an airman (or other branches) to an insignia or era:

 

http://www.americanveteranscenter.org/AVC_...eransChron.html

[Bluehawk]

Teamski posted this VERY useful regs for correct order of precedence on ribbon bars, racks, fruit salad...

 

Link:

http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Awards/R...fPrecedence.htm

[Bluehawk]

hawkdriver came up with this useful fruit salad order checker:

 

Link:

http://www.ezrackbuilder.com/

[Bluehawk]

oss.capt provided this site for checking order of racks:

 

Link:

http://www.armyawards.com/awards.shtml

[Bluehawk]

Kastauffer brought back this well-known link to NARA sources on military records, with the insight that one may use the term "Archival" in a signature when requesting geneological information, without having been a family member and without committing perjury.

 

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/index.html

[Bluehawk]

Wailuna dug up this interesting reference to the 95th A&E Squadron, associated with Manhattan Engineer District and Army Service Forces designations at Los Alamos in WWII

 

Link:

http://www.usafpatches.com/photo/displayimage.php?pos=-18010

[Bluehawk]

Peter Cox came up with this access to buying international medals

 

Link:

http://www.buymilitarymedals.com/

[Bluehawk]

gwb123 provided this sure to be good book about USAF in Vietnam, and following the link below are his words about the significance of the reference.

 

http://www.amazon.com/United-States-Force-...475&sr=1-18

 

"This is an official USAF history publication, and there are a couple different printings available. Mine is from 1977, but it also looks like it was redone in 1985. If you look at the photos closely, there is a lot of detail in them. The text is mostly drawn from official histories, and is a bit dry. But for the price, it has a nice selection of photos, and includes photos of people and not just aircraft. Too many Vietnam histories either gloss over the USAF or just show you endless photos of aircraft."

[Bluehawk]

Yet another gwb123 discovery for our list!

 

"Another favorite is:

 

Air Force Combat Wings, 1947-1977

 

http://www.amazon.com/United-States-Force-...475&sr=1-18

 

I was struggling finding organizational information on the post WWII USAF, and what do you know... here it was!

 

My mistake was focusing on squadron histories, which can be totally maddening to try to follow when you are trying to get the "big picture" of what was going on. What I failed to realize was that while all of the "action" was at the squadron level, the Wings are the basic operational unit of the USAF. Squadrons are added or subtracted due to the mission. As a vet, you probably have this etched on your soul, but it was a revelation to me.

 

There is a companion volume on WWII Wings, but it has been criticized as many of the insignia shown in the book are actually post WWII designs."

[Bluehawk]

Wailuna brought to my attention the following excellent USMF discussion about SSI on USAF uniforms.

 

Link:

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...?showtopic=5846