Flying/Aviation Cadets
Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2025 6:11 pm
Let's start in 1940.
That is a Flying Cadet coat. It's blue. Nobody would mistake whom was wearing that uniform as only the Flying Cadets had blue uniforms. A side-effect of the blue uniforms is nobody mistook them for Officers as the uniforms answered all questions before they were asked.
When in their flight suit, which was often the normal tan shirt and trousers, they were wearing uniform items which did resemble everyone else. Thus the Insignia, Sleeve, Flying Suit for the Flying Cadets. That price list is the official QM price list from 1940 - before the advent of the Aviation Cadets. The Captain, Corporal, First Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Sergeant listed are the out-sized chevrons the Flying Cadets wore - modelled after the ones at West Point. The existence of this patch, before the move to olive drab, establishes what the patch was for. The earlier one.
The Army Quartermaster made a move to have the entire Army back in blue about that time. Throw-back to the good old days of the late 1800s. Congress told them to get stuffed. The Quartermaster, no doubt in a fit of rage, decided that the Flying Cadets couldn't have blue uniforms either.
On June 3rd, 1941, the Flying Cadets ceased to exist. The new Aviation Cadets came about. These Cadets would wear olive-drab.
PQD-99. The olive-drab "Officer Style" coat. The problem with it being olive-drab is people started saluting them. They were technically enlisted men. One cannot even imagine the horror experienced by all concerned when an enlisted man is saluted. True pearl-clutching moment that would be. Hence the Aviation Cadet patch on the lower sleeve.
Two patches. The olive drab one is for the lower sleeve on the coat. The orange on blue one is for the shoulder when in the flying suit.
See?
Italian Prisoners of War. How do I know they aren't Germans or Japanese? Guess.
Officer Candidates School. Guess why they have two color patches.
Price list from 1944. Three patches there, the Aviation Cadet, Officer Candidate School, and Italy. Guess which arm those are worn on and if it's the lower or upper arm.
July 8th, 1942. The 1941 Act which eliminated the Flying Cadets, and ushered in the Aviation Cadets, was replaced by a new Act. The 1942 Act created the "Flight Officer" rank. Whereas, previous to this, all of the Cadets receiving commissions after graduation, they now could be "Flight Officers." Same thing as a Warrant Officer. Rank insignia was the Blue Pickle. The Cadets were put into enlisted uniforms. There is zero chance of anyone saluting scum in enlisted uniforms.
What the Army didn't realize is that the USAF would become independent. All those Cadets they had crapped on rose in rank in the USAF. In the nuclear age, with "massive response," the Army was the red-headed step-child of the services. The USAF went to blue uniforms. They even had the Army QM make the first ones. Rub salt in the wound as it were. The USAF adopted sage green fatigue uniforms so nobody would mistake them for Army. Congress caught up to them on that in the 1960s but it was good while it lasted.
If you see an orange on blue patch on a uniform item, lower sleeve, that's wrong. The orange on blue is the flight suit patch - goes on the upper arm. Doesn't mean it was always done the official way - the USAAF didn't worry too much about the Army and their rules.
- fcu-1.jpg (18.68 KiB) Viewed 902 times
That is a Flying Cadet coat. It's blue. Nobody would mistake whom was wearing that uniform as only the Flying Cadets had blue uniforms. A side-effect of the blue uniforms is nobody mistook them for Officers as the uniforms answered all questions before they were asked.
- fc-1.jpg (14.39 KiB) Viewed 902 times
When in their flight suit, which was often the normal tan shirt and trousers, they were wearing uniform items which did resemble everyone else. Thus the Insignia, Sleeve, Flying Suit for the Flying Cadets. That price list is the official QM price list from 1940 - before the advent of the Aviation Cadets. The Captain, Corporal, First Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Sergeant listed are the out-sized chevrons the Flying Cadets wore - modelled after the ones at West Point. The existence of this patch, before the move to olive drab, establishes what the patch was for. The earlier one.
The Army Quartermaster made a move to have the entire Army back in blue about that time. Throw-back to the good old days of the late 1800s. Congress told them to get stuffed. The Quartermaster, no doubt in a fit of rage, decided that the Flying Cadets couldn't have blue uniforms either.
On June 3rd, 1941, the Flying Cadets ceased to exist. The new Aviation Cadets came about. These Cadets would wear olive-drab.
- acod-1.jpg (18.54 KiB) Viewed 902 times
- 2patches.jpg (59.94 KiB) Viewed 902 times
Two patches. The olive drab one is for the lower sleeve on the coat. The orange on blue one is for the shoulder when in the flying suit.
- patch-0.jpg (42.02 KiB) Viewed 902 times
See?
- italy.jpg (45.23 KiB) Viewed 902 times
Italian Prisoners of War. How do I know they aren't Germans or Japanese? Guess.
- ocs.jpg (31.96 KiB) Viewed 902 times
Officer Candidates School. Guess why they have two color patches.
- ac-1.jpg (11.9 KiB) Viewed 902 times
Price list from 1944. Three patches there, the Aviation Cadet, Officer Candidate School, and Italy. Guess which arm those are worn on and if it's the lower or upper arm.
July 8th, 1942. The 1941 Act which eliminated the Flying Cadets, and ushered in the Aviation Cadets, was replaced by a new Act. The 1942 Act created the "Flight Officer" rank. Whereas, previous to this, all of the Cadets receiving commissions after graduation, they now could be "Flight Officers." Same thing as a Warrant Officer. Rank insignia was the Blue Pickle. The Cadets were put into enlisted uniforms. There is zero chance of anyone saluting scum in enlisted uniforms.
What the Army didn't realize is that the USAF would become independent. All those Cadets they had crapped on rose in rank in the USAF. In the nuclear age, with "massive response," the Army was the red-headed step-child of the services. The USAF went to blue uniforms. They even had the Army QM make the first ones. Rub salt in the wound as it were. The USAF adopted sage green fatigue uniforms so nobody would mistake them for Army. Congress caught up to them on that in the 1960s but it was good while it lasted.
If you see an orange on blue patch on a uniform item, lower sleeve, that's wrong. The orange on blue is the flight suit patch - goes on the upper arm. Doesn't mean it was always done the official way - the USAAF didn't worry too much about the Army and their rules.