Subdued Combat Medical badge on BDUs

[Spiritsoar]

I'm a new member, converting my old Army BDUs.  I was wondering if it was appropriate to leave the Combat Medical Badge as-is:



Or to try to get blue and white equivalents:


(This is the only equivalent I could find, by browsing the internet and eventually finding it elsewhere on these forums, for the Air Assault and CIB badges)

If blue is the proper way to do it, does anyone know of a good place to get custom badges made?  I looked on the internet and can't seem to find anywhere that does these specifically, though I might be able to contact one of them to do custom work. 

Thanks.

[PHall]

You can try  www.thebattlezone.com  and www.1800nametapes.com .

[manfredvonrichthofen]

Those are my badges and I can tell you the only place to go is www.1800nametape.com (no s at the end of tape). They charge a very good price for them and they will only make you order three, as opposed to VG making you order 100 (insane right?). I am very fond of their work. For an extra .25 per patch they will sew them into the proper shape.

I suggest using white on blue because it doesn't look weird like the subdued patches with the white on blue nametapes.

And welcome to CAP.

[Hawk200]

I wear an Air Force Maintenance badge and an Army Aviation Badge on my BDU's in subdued. It's permitted in 39-1. The option is up to you, and you alone.

[DBlair]

Those are my badges and I can tell you the only place to go is www.1800nametape.com (no s at the end of tape). They charge a very good price for them and they will only make you order three, as opposed to VG making you order 100 (insane right?). I am very fond of their work. For an extra .25 per patch they will sew them into the proper shape.

I suggest using white on blue because it doesn't look weird like the subdued patches with the white on blue nametapes.

And welcome to CAP.

Nice crisp work, looks great.

[RVT]

I wear an Air Force Maintenance badge and an Army Aviation Badge on my BDU's in subdued. It's permitted in 39-1. The option is up to you, and you alone.

My subdued jump wings are still on my BDU's, for the simple reason they were already sewn on in the right place.  Sooner or later someone will tell me that having my ground team badge above the jump wings is wrong.  Maybe even right after this post.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

I wear an Air Force Maintenance badge and an Army Aviation Badge on my BDU's in subdued. It's permitted in 39-1. The option is up to you, and you alone.

My subdued jump wings are still on my BDU's, for the simple reason they were already sewn on in the right place.  Sooner or later someone will tell me that having my ground team badge above the jump wings is wrong.  Maybe even right after this post.

I don't see why they would, it isn't an aeronautical badge or anything, it is a skill badge. I just won't put anything above my CIB.

[lordmonar]

The USAF considers jump wings as aeronautical badges.

But FWIW....I don't really care that much.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

The USAF considers jump wings as aeronautical badges.

But FWIW....I don't really care that much.

That is one thing I find interesting, the Army who teaches USAF personnel how to jump doesn't consider it an aeronautical badge, yet USAF does. If it were the other way around and USAF were to train Army personnel how to jump then the Army would consider them an aeronautical badge because USAF does. Interesting that one branch will treat another branch's insignia differently on their uniform.

[lordmonar]

Well...the USAF does not let ex army or current USAF personnel wear the CIB or other army badges of that type on their uniform unless the are actually serving with army units.

One of the big arguments about US vs THEM is the disconnect between awards, decoration and other bling.

You would think that we would all be more in line with each other......but there you go.

[Hawk200]

The USAF considers jump wings as aeronautical badges.

But FWIW....I don't really care that much.

That is one thing I find interesting, the Army who teaches USAF personnel how to jump doesn't consider it an aeronautical badge, yet USAF does. If it were the other way around and USAF were to train Army personnel how to jump then the Army would consider them an aeronautical badge because USAF does. Interesting that one branch will treat another branch's insignia differently on their uniform.

The Air Force used to consider jump wings as a mandatory wear aeronautical rating. I think it was during the McPeak era that it got "downgraded" and was no longer a mandatory wear item. Most people I knew that had them would wore them anyway, often without any other badges.

Although no longer mandatory, it was still listed as precedent over anything other than aeronautical ratings. I still remember someone that gave a lot of grief to another individual over his wearing his basic jump wings above his senior AFSC badge. A quick email to the First Sergeant with an Air Force message resolved the issue, but many people still felt that "basic" level jump wings went below anything with a star, or star and wreath.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

Well...the USAF does not let ex army or current USAF personnel wear the CIB or other army badges of that type on their uniform unless the are actually serving with army units.

One of the big arguments about US vs THEM is the disconnect between awards, decoration and other bling.

You would think that we would all be more in line with each other......but there you go.

I have to say, I am glad about the bit of disconnect though. I am very proud of my CIB and am glad I still get to wear it. I do hide some of my stuff under my pockets so that it cannot be seen, like my AASLT wings. I do want to see a clarification (as I have said many times) as to how many badges can be worn on the BDUs. I would love to put my AASLT wings back on  .

[manfredvonrichthofen]

The Air Force used to consider jump wings as a mandatory wear aeronautical rating. I think it was during the McPeak era that it got "downgraded" and was no longer a mandatory wear item. Most people I knew that had them would wore them anyway, often without any other badges.

Although no longer mandatory, it was still listed as precedent over anything other than aeronautical ratings. I still remember someone that gave a lot of grief to another individual over his wearing his basic jump wings above his senior AFSC badge. A quick email to the First Sergeant with an Air Force message resolved the issue, but many people still felt that "basic" level jump wings went below anything with a star, or star and wreath.

The Army did too until they transferred to the ACU, now nothing is REQUIRED, but you are highly encouraged to wear it all. You can also multi stack the badges on the ACU where you have AASLT next to Pathfinder and ABN above that and the CIB or CMB above that. Back when they were in BDUs you would have Pathfinder on the pocket flap and ABN and Scuba next to each other above the nametape and then the CIB or CMB above that. It is really interesting how different everything is from branch to branch.

[Hawk200]

Well...the USAF does not let ex army or current USAF personnel wear the CIB or other army badges of that type on their uniform unless the are actually serving with army units.

One of the big arguments about US vs THEM is the disconnect between awards, decoration and other bling.

You would think that we would all be more in line with each other......but there you go.

I still think that's an issue as well. The Air Force talks of Joint Ops, but doesn't want to make everything "joint." Something I found ironic at Balad was that easily a third of the airman I saw wore the Army Combat Uniform.

I find it interesting how the Air Force treats combat related awards. For the Army, combat awards (CIB, CMB, CAB) can be worn on most uniforms the Army has, and they're worth points toward promotion. The Air Force has a Combat Action Medal, not even worth any points, and, on the dress uniform, is buried within a ribbon rack. Doesn't seem like active combat service is meaningful to the Air Force.

[Hawk200]

I have to say, I am glad about the bit of disconnect though. I am very proud of my CIB and am glad I still get to wear it. I do hide some of my stuff under my pockets so that it cannot be seen, like my AASLT wings. I do want to see a clarification (as I have said many times) as to how many badges can be worn on the BDUs. I would love to put my AASLT wings back on  .

At best, two max. However, you can wear different badges on different uniforms. ASLT and CIB on one set of BDUs, CAP badges on another, mix a CAP badge and a mil badge on yet another. Of course, that only works if you have more than one set.

The concept of "one to the exclusion of the other" only applies to a single uniform instance. You can spread as many badges across as many different uniforms as you have, applying two to each uniform.

[GroundHawg]

I would go with the white on blue. It will look great on top of your GT badge or EMT badge once you earn them. I had my Jumpwings and Torch made into the white on blue and it looks great imho. Im going to get a few of my other badges done and wear a different one from time to time.