Help ID'ing wings?

[Patch Adams]

I've had these wings for a while and can't recall what they are. If I remember, they're early 20th century Navy or USMC of some sort. Would love an identification!

Thanks,

Patch Adams

 

[MastersMate]

USN Aviation Ordnanceman striker/school.

 

I think they refer to themselves as BB stackers..

[Patch Adams]

Thank you! Any idea as what era this particular one can be traced to?

 

-Patch Adams

[MastersMate]

I'd look to late WW2 and onward.. Many ratings training school graduates wore just the specialty mark on the sleeve to designate a particular rating they were striking to. By 1948 they would wear the specialty mark above the new group rate stripes for non rated personnel. This indicated a designated seaman..

[Kimo]

It could not be early 20th century since this Navy rating was not established until 1926, and it is still in use today. This particular patch appears to be somewhere around the 1950s or maybe later. It would have been worn by an enlisted man. Aviation Ordnancemen are not flight crew - they are ground crew and so this is not actually a wing badge. AOs are the ones responsible for loading and unloading weapons on aircraft before and after a flight and for safely keeping and storing the ammunition on an aircraft carrier or other ship that has aircraft on it, or at a land base. It is an important job and is essential for the aircraft to be ready to fly and fight since going up without shells in the cannons or missiles or bombs on the racks would be fairly useless.

 

These sell on Ebay for a few dollars for ones in nice condition. Yours seem to be a bit soiled and worn so they might go for somewhere in the lower end of the range.