
The medal was worn as a ribbon on the day to day dress uniform and as a medal on the formal uniform. You can link to that history on Missile Badge page of our web page on the History tab above.Ĭombat Crew Badge and Combat Readiness Medal - During the Strategic Air Command days, members of missile combat crews qualified for the Combat Crew Badge, worn over the right pocket on the uniform coat/blouse or shirt, and the Combat Readiness Medal, once the required period of service was met. One of AAFM's long time members, Greg Ogletree, put together an excellent, detailed history of the missile badge. This new nomenclature has caused some misunderstanding among newer operators, making them think that the only Missileers are the operators, that the term Missileer does no apply to maintainers or other specialties - which is the opposite of the historical roots of the term. The version without the Operations Designator was renamed the Missile Maintenance Badge. In December 2007, the Missile Badge with Operations Designator was returned to the uniform and the Space Badge no longer awarded. Between 20, new missile operators were awarded the Space Badge, with the Missile Badge only awarded to those in Missile Maintenance and related fields. When the badge was 30 years old, it was decided that the operators (launch officers) needed special recognition, so a second, larger wreath was added around the badge, and it was now called the Missile Badge or the Missile Badge with Operations Designator.Ī few years after the ICBM force moved to Air Force Space Command, the decision was made to combine the Space and Missile Operations career fields, and replace the Missile Badge with Operations Designator with the new Space Badge. A few years later, a star and a star within a wreath were added to the top of the badge to indicate experience levels, and the badge became the Missileman's Badge. It wasn't just for launch officers or maintainers it was for maintainers, all those officer and enlisted members involved with the new Air Force missile systems.


Air Force Guided Missile Insignia, a simple badge in one version, which was first issued in 1958 to two senior sergeants and two officers in two special ceremonies before all those Missileers who qualified for the new badge were awarded theirs a day or two later.
