For all those from the frozen north, the Air Force has brought the missile badge back. You can read about it on the AFSPC website.
Link: http://www.afspc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123101413
So no more Buzz Lightyear 'spwings'? Glad the 'pocket rocket with the toilet seat' is back.
Quote from: AlphaSigOU on June 07, 2008, 12:13:34 PM
So no more Buzz Lightyear 'spwings'? Glad the 'pocket rocket with the toilet seat' is back.
The article doesn't really saying anything about the phaseout of the "spings". The older functional badge is probably getting phased out, and the spings will probably be standard for all members in a space field. The missile is to probably only indicate the additional qualifications of the missile crews and those having done the Space 100 course.
The article really only addresses officers wearing the "pocket rocket", as well.
The spings stay for all space and missile enlisted and officers. If you serve/served in the 13SXC career field you just gain the missile badge back. Basically the spings replaced the old space badge and now if you work in the "space realm" you can earn the badge (i.e. engineer, acquisition).
I thought I had seen fewer of these over the years but I didn't know they got rid of them. Ironically, before I read this post, I was at Burger King (eating lunch with McLarty <<---CAP Talker) on Lackland AFB and noticed a guy wearing one on his ABUs. Caught my eye as the first one I saw on ABUs.
(http://www.afspc.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/web/080604-F-7787L-001.jpg) (http://www.rangerjoes.com/images/A2574.jpg)
They were never really "gone". If you cross trained out of SM after a certain date (off the top around 2001). You wore the space and or missile badge. As you can imagine, that left not too many around. I am impressed if someone sewed on the pocket rocket with the notice coming out yesterday.
Call me crazy, but I noticed them on sale at MCSS too. The one for the ABUs I linked in the picture above came from rangerjoes.com so maybe they were one of those badges that you could wear if you had earned it back in the day (which was a Wednesday by the way) but were being phased out as people retired, etc.
Don't know, but I can go buy one right now if I had the need. They're on sale.