The Naval Flight Officer insignia is a breast insignia of the United States military which is awarded to those aviators of the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard who have qualified as Naval Flight Officers (NFO) based on successful completion of flight training. The insignia is similar in design to the Naval Aviator insignia, consisting of a pair of golden wings, a shield, and crossed anchors.
The Naval Flight Officer insignia is identical for both branches and is awarded in a single degree. To qualify for the NFO insignia, a service member must have completed officer aviation training and be qualified as a systems operator on board a Naval aircraft. Such qualifications include weapons system operations, airborne tactical data system operations, electronic warfare, and airborne navigation.
The insignia originated in the 1930s and evolved from the Naval Aviation Observer insignia. The main reason for creating the NFO insignia in 1965-1966 was to recognize the higher degree of training required for naval flight officers, compared to other airborne support personnel.
In the modern space age, the insignia is also upgradeable to a variation of the Naval Aviator Astronaut insignia. Known as the Naval Flight Officer Astronaut insignia, the decoration is a standard NFO insignia upon which is centered a golden astronaut "shooting star" logo. The badge is issued for those Naval Flight Officers who have completed astronaut training at NASA and have subsequently participated in a space flight more than 50 miles above the Earth.
The United States Coast Guard equivalent of the Naval Flight Officer insignia is known as the Coast Guard Flight Officer Badge and while identical to NFO wings, is no longer issued.
Famous quotes containing the words naval, flight and/or officer:
“It is now time to stop and to ask ourselves the question which my last commanding officer, Admiral Hyman Rickover, asked me and every other young naval officer who serves or has served in an atomic submarine. For our Nation M for all of us M that question is, “Why not the best?””
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“When we are high and airy hundreds say
That if we hold that flight they’ll leave the place,
While those same hundreds mock another day
Because we have made our art of common things ...”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“I who have cursed
The drunken officer of British rule, how choose
Between this Africa and the English tongue I love?
Betray them both, or give back what they give?
How can I face such slaughter and be cool?
How can I turn from Africa and live?”
—Derek Walcott (b. 1930)