Thank you, I've been reading up more on SATC vs ROTC. I guess the former former was for enlisted for training and not degree oriented? Interesting times! And thanks for the pointer on the collar disk!

+1

Unfortunately I can`t, not got my hands on them yet.

There’s a frame on eBay for 65$ that 1” too large I might breakdown and get

Hi Janine, the photos of Richard C Merkle did not have exact dates attached to them.  That said, if I had to guess (and it's only my best guess), I'd say the photo on the extreme left might've been taken around late 1943.  The one in the middle I believe is an earlier photo of him and might've been the earliest photo of the three, taken perhaps in the 1936-1937 timeframe while in Hawaii where he played basketball.  Lastly, the far right photo might have been taken in mid 1944 to mid 1945 timeframe.   Some additional information to note:    On the Morning Reports I attached please note that pages 20, 21, and 22 have nothing to do with Richard Merkle.  Sometimes during the scanning process by National Archives some morning reports are blurry and the service numbers are misread into the optical character reader.  Such was the case on those particular pages.   Richard's MOS or Military Occupation Specialty was 533, which was a Demolition Specialist (Construction and Engineering)   For an example of what these Army Airborne Aviation Engineer Battalions were trained to do see this YouTube video =>  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjwnGGP6SIw   Here's another link that might be of interest =>  https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/VII/AAF-VII-9.html#:~:text=At the time of the,of airfields in forward areas.  

RayRay,  I don't often see yard longs matted, so they are pretty simple. It's just a frame with glass and appropriate acid free backing material and the hanging bits.  Hobby Lobby used to have the pre-cut metal, modular frame sections available in twos. This way you buy two sides together and the top and bottom together based on whatever you need. They have rotating 40% sales in different departments so that might be a way to cut costs. The glass you would have to buy but that should not be prohibitive. Similar to the backing material, glass comes after you have assembled the frame and can measure the ID with a little wiggle room. That should be about the cheapest you can go as labor/expertise is what really drives the cost up.

Don't think they are the WWII-era high-tops. Can you decypher any contract number on the stamping?

It came out about a year after I left the Joint Staff. The Army Element wore no SSI or DUI.

Interested to know value and what period these are from.

So I have two framers, however I was generally looking for a more cost affordable option