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Patching question
- Thread starter Clark J
- Start date
HueyPilot
New Member
Clark J said:
I'm not sure I understand the distinction between the unit patch and the company patch. I would have thought they would be the same. Evidently not. OK, now that I have reread and thought about your post, I believe the 228th to be the Battalion level unit and A Company to be the company (obviously) unit? Fortunately, I know very little about the 1st Cav and am not familiar with their unit designations. Evidently they follow the standard Army unit designation, and the aviation outfits somehow fit in that scheme.
Generally speaking the current parent unit patch would go on the left shoulder. If the pilot had seen combat with another unit, on a prior tour, that patch would go on the right shoulder--the "combat patch." If a pilot had seen combat with more than one brigade or division size unit, the exhibited patch would be his choice. These patches indicate the parent outfit, which is the highest level unit existing in country. In your brother's case, that would be the 1st Air Cavalry, indicated by the large horse's head. In my case it would be the 1st Aviation Brigade, indicated by an Eagle perched on an upraised sword. Before these patches were authorized, early in the war, everyone, regardless of unit affiliation, wore the MACV patch on the right shoulder as their combat patch. That patch is an upright sword flanked by what appears to be turrets, or some such.
To confuse you a little further, the left shoulder patch is the unit to which the pilot is currently assigned. In my case, after VN, it was the Army Aviation Flight school. That patch is currently on my left shoulder as that was the last assignment I had before finishing my military service.
The company, or squadron patch, would go on the right side of the chest, below where the name tape would be located, if a name tape were used. When I was a pilot, I didn't see name tapes or US Army tapes used on flight jackets. We used name badges with our name, rank, branch of service and flight wings printed on the badge.
In my experience we didn't put any patches other than the company level patch on our flight jackets, and that practice was optional. In my avatar I believe you can see the company patch on the right pocket of my jungle fatigue blouse.
Although I have used the flight jacket as worn by pilots as the example, I believe the information would be applicable to other forms of military dress as well. Although I'm not sure the company patch on the right chest pocket would be authorized on anything other than flight wear or fatigues. Please remember that I am recalling this from memory, and what was authorized 40 years ago (has it really been that long?) may not be authorized today.
I will take a photo or two of my flight jacket, that is configured as explained above, and post it, if I can figure out how to post photos in this forum.
Clark J
Well-Known Member
The 228th A,B & C cos where all Winged Warriors http://cgi.ebay.com/Winged-Warriors-Des ... omain_0.He was in A co and it's patch was more of a cartoon type patch of a Hook and the saying "sling the world"
HueyPilot
New Member
Yes, that is the Wildcats (A Company) company patch. It should be worn on the right side of the chest. See the photograph of my flight jacket below. The Battalion is the 228th, and they have a patch as well. I believe that patch would properly be worn by Battalion Headquarters types, and not by the flight crew, assigned to the companies, who actually went out and did the work. But if you see a place on the jacket where the Battalian patch would look good, go ahead and put it on.
Please notice the placement of the patches. On the right shoulder is my combat patch--1st Aviation Brigade; on the left shoulder is the patch of the Army Aviation School where I was an instrument flight instructor/flight standards after VN. On the right chest is my company patch, the 189th Assault Helicopter Company, and on the left chest is the name badge with wings, rank and branch of service. Hope this helps you in the placement of your patches.
This is one of the jackets I was able to find, thanks to the help of several of the guys here at the nylon section a few years ago. Tamoko was especially helpful; special thanks to you, buddy. I appreciate all you did. This jacket is a 1967 Satellite. Mine was actually issued to me in 1966, but I didn't find one of that year. Since I was in VN in 1967, I figured that was close enough.
Please notice the placement of the patches. On the right shoulder is my combat patch--1st Aviation Brigade; on the left shoulder is the patch of the Army Aviation School where I was an instrument flight instructor/flight standards after VN. On the right chest is my company patch, the 189th Assault Helicopter Company, and on the left chest is the name badge with wings, rank and branch of service. Hope this helps you in the placement of your patches.
This is one of the jackets I was able to find, thanks to the help of several of the guys here at the nylon section a few years ago. Tamoko was especially helpful; special thanks to you, buddy. I appreciate all you did. This jacket is a 1967 Satellite. Mine was actually issued to me in 1966, but I didn't find one of that year. Since I was in VN in 1967, I figured that was close enough.
