Naval Aircrew Wings Embroidered Patch

The letters on this wing are A and C, for aircrew, and the stroke between them that reads like an I is the shank of the anchor. That is why so many people call it the AIC wing, and why every sailor who wore one has had to explain it at least once. The Naval Aircrew wing goes to enlisted sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen who fly as working crew in naval aircraft. All three services wear the same gold wing, issued in a single degree with no stars or upgrade devices. You either qualified in your aircraft or you did not.

Aircrew wings in the Navy go back to May 18, 1943, when an Air Crew Insignia was created. Today the wing comes after the training pipeline and roughly a year of platform Personnel Qualification Standards in the squadron, with water survival and electronic warfare training part of the road. Most of the sailors who wear it come from the enlisted aviation ratings, though Cryptologic Technicians, Information Technicians, Intelligence Specialists and Hospital Corpsmen in aircrew billets earn it too. In 2009 the Navy made the qualification a warfare designation, Naval Aircrew Warfare Specialist, and qualified sailors write it after their rate, as in CTIC(NAC). Patrol crews in the P-3C Orion and P-8A Poseidon and helicopter crews in the MH-60 Seahawk have all pinned on the same pair of wings.

The patch is cut to the shape of the wing, 4 inches across and 1.25 inches tall, with the edge trimmed close to the embroidery and a fine black outline running all the way around. Both wings are gold thread with the feathers drawn in black, sweeping out from a round center disc. Inside the disc a plain anchor stands on a pale gold field, ring at the top and flukes at the bottom, with a block A on one side of the shank and a C on the other. There is no color beyond gold and black, the same as the metal wing worn on a uniform. Across a room it reads as aircrew to anyone who flew.

Aircrew are the people in the back of the airplane: sensor operators, rescue swimmers, flight engineers, loadmasters and crew chiefs. Their names rarely make the papers, but no patrol, rescue or logistics flight leaves the deck or the runway without them. Qualification means months of study, check flights and boards after arriving at the squadron, which is why the wing carries weight with the people who know what it takes. It marks a crewman the pilot and the mission commander trusted with the aircraft and with each other.

Put it in a shadow box with your squadron patches, a copy of your flight log and a photo of the crew, or sew it on the flight jacket you still wear to squadron reunions. It also makes a good gift for a new aircrewman who just pinned on wings of his or her own. The backing is iron-on, and it can be sewn on for a permanent hold. Gold wings, an anchor and two letters say the rest.