The Aerial Gunner Badge was a military aeronautical badge of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and was issued during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The badge was first created and authorized on April 29, 1943 to recognize both the training and hazardous duty of aerial gunners, who manned defensive machineguns on board such aircraft as the

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models de ...

B-25 The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Major General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in ...

, B-26 and

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

bombers. The Aerial Gunner Badge appeared as a standard

observer badge The Observer Badge is a military badge of the United States armed forces dating from the First World War. The badge was issued to co-pilots, navigators, and flight support personnel (as air observer) who had received a variation in the training ...

, upon which was centered a winged

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and co ...

. It was primarily awarded to USAAF enlisted aircrewmen, but a small number of commissioned officers also qualified and were awarded this insignia, to include film actor

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

. The Aerial Gunner Badge was issued until 1953, in the newly created

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

(1947). The Aerial Gunner Badge was declared obsolete and phased out in favor of the

Aircrew Badge The Aircrew Badge, commonly known as Wings, is a qualification badge of the United States military that is awarded by all five branches of armed services to personnel who serve as aircrew members on board military aircraft. The badge is inte ...

. Those having received the Aerial Gunner Badge were permitted to wear the original badge until 1955, at which time the badge was no longer authorized for display on an Air Force uniform. Prior to the establishment of the Aerial Gunner Badge, these airman could compete in an aerial gunnery competition to earn the Distinguished Aerial Gunner Badge. This lasted from 1926–1932.Distinguished Bomber and Aerial Gunner Badges
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818164324/http://emersoninsignia.net/files/Download/1AerialDist.pdf , date=2016-08-18 , U. S. Army Insignia, by William K. Emerson, last accessed 29 December 2014 Beyond this, there was no badge displayed on the uniform to denote one as an aerial gunner.

References

United States military badges

See also

References