Plastic-Encased Grade Insignia: Why?

[flyboy53]

Subdued embroidered grade insignia and/or their grade on a leather "wings" name patch, if I recall correctly.

USAF aircrew haven't worn leather nametags in 20 years; they're all embroidered now, and only enlisted put their rank on them. It's wings, first and last name only for officers.

I stand corrected.

I say, don't like plastic encased rank? Don't wear it. Go slick-shouldered.

Please read my original post.  I wasn't complaining.  I was simply asking a historical question.

Well, I'm going to agree with your original post. In the 1960s, the leather wings were placed inside a plastic sleeve that was sewn on to the flight jacket or flight suit. You would pull out the leather patch when you needed to dry clean the jacket or the flight suit. The dreaded plastic rank was originally sewn on to the flight suit or attached with Velcro -- original rank insignia from that era actually pressed the Velcro into the plastic via some sort of heat laminating process (I have a pair purchased in Texas). The problem was that after a while anything plastic got brittle or yellowed and would have to be replaced.

You could always tell the crews who served in the Pacific theater because they would come back with cloth flight wings that were embroidered and looked so close to the leather ones that you had to look twice.

We're of an era now where the military is moving more and more to cloth or embroidered insignia. I wish the CAP would take the steps already in place with the blue flight suit (cloth rank insignia) and maybe transition the green suit to the same stuff.