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Difference between USCG And USN Rate Patches


PaulR
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post-162267-0-98509700-1524621874.jpg. Signal Flags are Better ???

 

Man..those crossed hammers are BAD ASSSSS... :love:

 

 

Hell..They're ALL A-OK to me!!

 

 

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  • 4 months later...

Keep an eye out for a particularly short lived rating that was CG Reserve specific from the early to mid 1960s. The Coastal Forceman was a resurrection of the Beach Patrol from WW 2..

 

 

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Keep an eye out for a particularly short lived rating that was CG Reserve specific from the early to mid 1960s. The Coastal Forceman was a resurrection of the Beach Patrol from WW 2..

 

 

. Ok, gotta say, that is a cool looking rating mark!
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These guys were a bit of a mystery to normal CG recruits. I remember them at boot camp in early 1966 at Cape May. They lived in the old WW2 barracks off to themselves. They were Reservists and just seemed to always be running somewhere at a rapid pace, and screaming some jibberish in cadence. They wore USMC fatigues and kept to themselves along with their trainers. Understand that after recruit training they went to USMC advanced infantry training.. I saw a rating badge once on e bay, but have not seen one in the last few years..

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The 1960's a time of change... The Coast Guard had, since the pay act of May 1920, followed the USN in so far as enlisted ratings were concerned. The Secretary had the authority to create additional ratings as may be needed to the specific duties of the CG.

 

The Coastal Forceman for the CG Reserve is an example of the CG starting to use that authority. By the late 1960s the aviation community in the CG looked at combining ratings to make better use of its personnel. The Aviation Survivalman rating was the first CG venture into this new personnel practice. The Parachute Rigger and Aviation Ordnanceman were combined into the new ASM rating in July 1968. Following the CF rating mark in the early 1960s, it made the creation of a new CG specific specialty mark, combining the AO and PR into the new CG specific ASM. It also broke with the 1948 policy of ratings having just 2 letters to designate them, the ASM was a ground breaker.. Bowing to PC, the CG renamed the rating to Aviationsurvival TECH. (AST) in 1999

 

 

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In 1965 the USN got the ball rolling when they changed the Parachute Rigger to their Aviation Survival Equipmentman and the CG looked at their aviation ratings and a couple of years later the CG created their ASM (Aviation Survivalman)..

 

In the late 1960s there was increased interest in the oceans and the atmosphere sciences. A new federal agency ESSA (Environmental Sciences Service Agency) for runner to NOAA was formed. The Coast Guard, with the Ocean Station weather program ,was already well involved with their Aerographers Mates and Weather Bureau personnel. Coast Guard Sonarmen were involved with the Expendable Bathythermograph (XBT) program for the USN during transit and when on weather station. It made sense to combine the AG and some SO Sonarmen into a new rating named Marine Science Technician (MST).. This was stood up a few months after the ASM rating was established. Story has it, from early members of the rating, that a contest was held to design the rating specialty mark. A student in one of the first classes designed the Neptunes’ Trident rising through the waves. Symbols that are representivive of things concerning the oceans. Interestingly a few years later the USN adopted a similar specialty mark for their OT (Ocean Systems Tech) rating..

 

Over the years the oceanographic program has diminished in importance and the MSTs took on more roles in the marine pollution control programs and eventually into almost all of the marine safety programs of the CG..

 

Perhaps the rating should be renamed the Marine Safety Technician as the science part becomes of less importence,..

 

 

 

 

 

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Which couldn't be better timing for this next little tidbit of info..

 

The eagle (crow) on the USN rating badge.. In the 1900 Revenue Cutter Service uniform regs, a different style rating badge was prescribed for the RCS petty officers. The RCS being ever frugal, looked at the USN style badge.. My personal observation is that after the Span/Am War and the close participation with the USN, the RCS was making a move to be more aligned and recognized as a military service.. Bach to the rating badge..

 

The USN style consisted of the eagle and specialty mark embroidered onto cloth and then the appropriate chevrons applied. I found and old photo of a cutter from 1905. The POs were wearing the 1880s style eagle and some had the 1890s style eagle with the specialty mark just below the eagle, but NO Chevrons. Very easy to get on a USN clothing requisition. The CG maintained the 1905 style eagle and its future alterations up until the present day

 

sigsaye was active around at the time, but somewhere in the mid 1980s, I believe, the USN got a wild hair across its tookus and redesigned the eagle to look like a beer bellied parrot with a mullet style hair and drying its armpits in the breeze.. :D

 

The CG did not jump on that change and maintains the basic 1905 style eagle through the present day, thank goodness..

 

Interesting note is that Justin B's. reference work pointed out and provided the size difference between the two styles. Something in the photos just didn't quite match up with the specs in the uniform regs..

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The New Crows started showing up while I was on a cruise to WestPac. I thaught they were some locally made trash. That was common then around advancement time

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A little comment concerning the USN rating badge and the design of the eagle.

 

In a very short time, there will be no enlisted crew on active duty that will recall that the 'Crow" had a different design. It will be relegated to history and old timers to keep it alive. The USN is making a huge uniform effort to get get all hands to present one image across the board. The enlisted blues and whites, M/F and the officer whites M/F, the combination caps and white hats.

 

The Master CPO of the Navy is the enlisted spokesman and supposedly the voice of the enlisted crew. Perhaps that chief should make it a PRIORITY to finalize the uniform process of presenting a traditional uniform image of the USN.. Make it a final uniform issue to return the petty officers rating badge to the traditional USN style. The machinery is in place, the USCG uses that style today. Just change the cloth background..

 

The MCPON always likes to leave something as a lasting legacy, well, latch on to the petty officer rating badge and restore it to the pre 1980s style..

 

Off the soap box..

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Salvage Sailor

Aloha Members,

 

For those not familiar with what Steve, I and others are describing, here's a topic Steve posted on these "Surrendering Chicken" and "Fat Parrot" USN rates.

 

WARNING: Old sailors beware before viewing ........ http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/206438-post-84-navy-rates/

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A uniform vendor supplies rating badges to the Coast Guard. They apparently have it figured out just how to embroider the eagle in the pre chicken era style. The CG blue rating badge is the same style that was issued to me in 1975 as a part of the new CG uniform. It would not be a big deal for the USN to change style.. Perhaps a letter campaign to the MCPON might be in order..

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The end of the 1970s marked some changes to the USCG Reserve organization missions. The reserve only ratings of Port Securityman and Firefighter were going through some realignment. The PS had used the Diamond G, WW2 specialist mark on the rating badge. A contest was announced in the RESERVIST magazine for designs for a new specialty mark for the Port Security and new Fire Safety ratings..

 

The Port Security rating was designed by a reservist but the final design was simplified into a simple solid law enforcement shield in 1981. By 1984 an alteration to the shield was made and the dark letters PS added to the shield. In 2008 a new Law Enforcement rating was authorized and someone in the CG organization had saved the original PS design and used it for the new rating..

 

 

post-162267-0-24391000-1538240814_thumb.jpg

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The original design made perfect sense in that it echoed the design of the USN Master at Arms rating specialty mark. The USN MA with the law enforcement shield and the traditional star of the Master at Arms rating. The R.C.S. and early CG had a rating of Master at Arms but it used the national shield as the specialty mark. For the CG Port Security law enforcement mission the original design made perfect sense but somewhere in CGHQ it got modified a couple of times. The use for the new ME rating made perfect sense and readily identifies the specialty of the petty officer..

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In late 1908, the Revenue Cutter Service issued a new set of uniform regulations. The current design if the Coast Guard officer cap insignia eagle is one of those changes. Just a bit prior to the uniform regulation changes a new warrant officer specialty of Masters Mate was created. This was a senior specialty that warrant officers of other specialties could apply to. The Masters Mate could serve as the Officer in Charge of some of the smaller harbor cutters of the RCS.

 

The petty officers gained a new rating badge, but, with chevrons of white overlaid on scarlet cloth to give the look of being edged with red.. The engineer ratings evolved to the First and Second oilers. The Electrician and First Class electrician. and a new rating of WaterTender and a new specialty mark. It illustrated what the rating would do. The USN used the machinists mate 3 blade prop for the engineroom ratings, but the RCS made a distinction between the two..

 

 

post-162267-0-25302300-1538839392_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

To bring this topic up to the last bit of information that I have been able to locate and verify, the earliest petty officer specialty marks and their similarity to the USN in so far as appearance and dates of authorization.

 

The Master at Arms, Coxswains and Quartermasters.

 

As early as 1833 the USN authorized marks of distinction for their petty officers. The RCS cutter captains rated their ships Boatswains, Gunners, Carpenters and they were identified by additional service buttons on collars or cuffs of the blue jacket.

 

After the civil war the USN instituted embroidered specialty marks for the uniform sleeves to identify the specialties of its petty officers.. In 1871 the RCS followed the USN and identified those additional petty officers appointed by the cutter captains. They were the Master at Arms, Coxswain, and Quartermaster. Enlisted uniforms for the RCS closely matched those for enlisted men of the USN. The first relatives to the RCS/CG system of petty officers got their start up with the RCS 1871 uniform regulations. Note just how closely they followed the USN..

 

 

 

 

 

post-162267-0-66476500-1540063391_thumb.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

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