Aviation (Enlisted) – Branch Insignia

Criteria: U.S. Army branch insignia badges represent each individual service member’s specific field of service. Each soldier – both enlisted personnel and officers – wear their branch insignia badge on his or her formal uniform (Class A or Army dress blues) denoting their particular skill set. Army branch insignia badges are separate from Army qualification badges, in that, qualification badges require completion of a training course or school, whereas branch insignia badges are issued to a service member upon assignment to a particular area of the Army. Enlisted soldiers wear the branch insignia on the left coat lapel (opposite the “U.S.” insignia disk). Officers wear their branch insignia on the lower half of both lapels beneath the “U.S.” insignia. Army personnel began wearing branch insignia just prior to the Civil War in the 1850s.