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Dog Tags Styles and examples Part 1


Ricardo
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I think the ID Tag of Richard Malek is a USAF tag for a Warrant Officer.

The USAF Warrant Officers of the 1950s had serial numbers with the prefix “AW”.

 

When I was in the 511th Fighter Bomber Squadron our Aircraft Maintenance Officer was a Warrant Officer. Below is part of the orders that sent our squadron on a TDY assignment to Wendover AFB, Utah on 29 March 1956. Note the entry for CWO Stephen R Kotyo AW2107193

 

Here is an excerpt from an online article about Air Force Warrant Officers:

 

The AAF Inheritance

When the war ended, the Army stopped appointing both flight officers and warrant officers, and most wartime appointees went home. Two years later, the Air Force began life as a separate service and inherited 305,000 former AAF members, among whom were 1,200 warrant officers. The service had no specific WO career plan, but it continued to appoint more.

 

Over the next decade, Congress and the Pentagon tried to sort things out, with limited success. The lawmakers gave warrant officers four separate pay grades but failed to match them with specific ranks. As a result, some warrant officers wound up supervising others drawing higher pay.

 

In the early 1950s, the Air Force tried to define the warrant officer by regulation. AFR 36-72 called him "a technical specialist with supervisory ability, who is appointed for duty in one superintendent Air Force specialty."

 

The regulation defined warrant positions as those in which supervision was limited to other warrant officers, enlisted members, and civilians; duties required more responsibility than was desirable for an NCO but greater specialization than was desirable for a junior officer; and duties could be handled by senior NCOs in the temporary absence of warrant officers.

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These are some interesting dog tags.

 

The "RA" prefix was added to serial numbers of Regular Army enlisted men in July 1947. Note that Harvey Walker's serial number has seven digits, beginning with number "6," indicating that he first enlisted sometime between March 1, 1919 and June 30, 1940, when the Army introduced a new series of eight digit ASNs for enlisted men subsequently entering service for the first time after that date.

 

The "T" prefix was used for flight officer serial numbers after that rank was established in July 1942.

 

And "AW"? I don't know. Richard Malek's seven digit serial number most closely resembles a WWII warrant officer ASN. However, the warrant officer prefix during WWII was "W" (and "RW" was created postwar for warrant officers holding commissions in the active reserve.) More research needed.

 

Very interesting about the AW prefix and the Air Force connection . I have a group to a WWII Warrant Officer and his service number is very close in number to Maleks. His ASN has a W prefix instead of AW obviously.

 

Kurt

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...The USAF Warrant Officers of the 1950s had serial numbers with the prefix "AW".

Good catch, evstringer. Thanks for keeping your records and for putting them to good use on the Forum.

 

WWII ASNs for warrant officers were seven digits beginning "21-" I have records on a WO(JG) appointed May 15, 1942: W2102385. Is your warrant officer's ASN consistent with this pattern, Kurt? USAF evidently was allocated its own warrant officer serial number block after its independence.

 

NARA's WWII enlistment record data base lists a Richard J. Malek who might be the same man: Inducted September 1942 (link here). Is this your Malek, Andrew?

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I had always thought that Malek's tags were issued during WW II. I was supprised to learn that this tag would have been issued in the 50's. Would he not have to have had an updated tetanus if he was transfered or called back into Air Force service?

 

Thanks

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Good catch, evstringer. Thanks for keeping your records and for putting them to good use on the Forum.

 

WWII ASNs for warrant officers were seven digits beginning "21-" I have records on a WO(JG) appointed May 15, 1942: W2102385. Is your warrant officer's ASN consistent with this pattern, Kurt? USAF evidently was allocated its own warrant officer serial number block after its independence.

 

NARA's WWII enlistment record data base lists a Richard J. Malek who might be the same man: Inducted September 1942 (link here). Is this your Malek, Andrew?

 

I had found the same thing on the NARA web site and had assumed that it was the same person concidering teh last name is not all that common. I will check tonight to see if I have any other tags in the group named to Malek.

 

Thanks

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If no previous tetanus shots were given, the serviceman was first given a series of three shots. IIRC The first two were given about a month apart and the third was given approximately a year later. After that, booster shots were given every 10 years. (I have a copy of my shot records and could post it later when I get home.)

 

So it looks like Malek started the series in 1943 and got his third shot in 1944. Thus he would not have been due a booster shot until 1954.

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Good catch, evstringer. Thanks for keeping your records and for putting them to good use on the Forum.

 

WWII ASNs for warrant officers were seven digits beginning "21-" I have records on a WO(JG) appointed May 15, 1942: W2102385. Is your warrant officer's ASN consistent with this pattern, Kurt? USAF evidently was allocated its own warrant officer serial number block after its independence.

 

NARA's WWII enlistment record data base lists a Richard J. Malek who might be the same man: Inducted September 1942 (link here). Is this your Malek, Andrew?

 

21 matches the one I have too.

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Here is another interesting WO dog tag out of the group. the VA cemetary records show hism as serving in WW II and Korea.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi everybody,

Can someone help me about this dog tags? I'd like to have more informations of this soldier, I already checked on NARA DATABASE, but I'd like to know something more...For exemple, I wish to know where he fought (Europe, Africa or Midle eastern) and if, he was in the navy, army or air force...

Is there any other website like NARA, where I can get this informations?

Thanks Giovanni.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi gents.

This small DogTag group was a gift too me from Ian .DW. Sutherland.

 

Rest in peace my friend.

 

Martin

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  • 4 months later...
  • 1 month later...

I am the temporary caretaker of a collection of dog tags (pre-WWI to fairly current) but there are a few that I have decided to keep.

Here is one of them.

 

They belonged to Harold Alexander Holmes. He enlisted in the Army on 3 Jun 1946 at Ft. Lewis, Washington in the Air Corps as a Technical Sergeant for the Hawaiian Department.

 

He was a Prisoner of War from 7 May 1942 (date of report) until 4 Oct 1945 at "Camp: Tokyo POW Camp (Shinjuku) Tokyo Bay Area 35-140" (NARA).

 

These are his (post) Korean War tags. He had a service start date of 1 Sep 1954. The Veteran's Gravesite information says he was a Master Sergeant in the US Airforce in Korea.

He was born 30 Jan 1916 in Washington and he died on 1 May 1979. He is buried at Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, Oregon.

 

It is important to me to remember these tags represent people - and by researching them - bring them back to 'life' so to speak.

 

I have a couple of others I've decided to keep too.

Joy

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Very nice set of tags and great research, EmeraldBat. Interesting to see he used a WW2 era chain with his post war tags. I don't blame him, they were much nicer than the ball chains. I'd love to see more of what you kept.

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Since I am caring for a very large collection (originally close to 300 individuals) including some loose chains - I confess that I put that very nice chain on his tags.

 

I will share information on some others I have decided to keep. Some tags with etched handwriting are almost beautiful!

Joy

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Another tag I decided to keep - the handwriting is amazing! And the etched thumbprint - the instructions on how to do it makes the tags with thumbprints all the more interesting.

 

Lewis E. Albright

Born in Deluth, Minnesota on 30 Dec 1889. He registered for the draft for the World War on 29 May 1917 in Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon. He was working as a brakeman at the time.

 

He died on 30 Jun 1974 in Washington County, Oregon.

Joy

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johnnyrocket

I picked these up about 13 years ago. I think they are Korean era tags.

 

Johnny R.

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