U.S. Air Force aeronautical ratings are military aviation skill standards established and awarded by the United States Air Force for commissioned officers participating in "regular and frequent flight",The standard by which flight status has been defined in law, executive orders, and regulations since 1913. either aerially or in space, in performance of their duties. USAF aeronautical badges, commonly referred to as "wings" from their shape and their historical legacy, are awarded by the Air Force in recognition of degrees of achievement and experience. Officers earning these badges and maintaining their requirements are classified as rated officers and receive additional pay and allowances.
The first U.S. military aviator ratings were awarded in 1912, and the issuance of badges for recognition of the award began in 1913. The division of ratings into multiple skill levels and categories began in 1914 and expanded during World War I. With minor variations in numbers and titles of ratings, the system remained largely unchanged until 1940, when the current system of pilot ratings was introduced. During World War II, as many as 19 aeronautical ratings were recognized and awarded by the Army Air Forces, but most were discontinued after the war when the USAF came into being.
USAF ratings gradually expanded until seven categories and 21 ratings exist currently. The most recent change added the RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) Pilot rating, effective 13 December 2010. Although in much smaller numbers, enlisted personnel were historically eligible to be rated until 1949. Since the later 1950s, highly trained enlisted personnel, along with officers whose duties do not include flying, are recognized by the awarding of Air Force Occupational Badges. In 2016, the Air Force opened RPA pilot positions to enlisted personnel, making them the first enlisted pilots since 1949.
Overview For all categories of aeronautical ratings, to be eligible for the rating and to wear the appropriate badge, an officer must be medically qualified to fly and also be qualified by flying status proficiency. Certified flight officers who develop medical conditions that disqualify them from flying are classified DNIF (Duties Not Including Flying). DNIF may be temporary or permanent. Officers placed on permanent DNIF status are either cross-trained into another career field, or separated from the Air Force, depending on the severity of their medical condition.
The Astronaut "qualifier" is awarded only by the Air Force Chief of Staff for rated officers formally qualified to perform duties at least 50 miles above the earth's surface and who have participated in at least one operational mission, and has a distinctive Astronaut Badge, consisting of a "shooting star" qualifier device superimposed on their rated badge.Air Force Instruction (AFI) 11-402, Paragraph 2.2.2; 13 December 2010, superseding AFI 11-402 25 September 2007.
The seven categories of aeronautical ratings, as authorized by Title 10, U.S.C. 8691, are:AFI 11-402. Paragraph 2.2 defines the categories of aeronautical ratings and Paragraph 2.4 the authority making the award. Pilot: awarded by the Commander or delegated wing commanders, Air Education and Training Command (AETC) Navigator: awarded by the Commander or delegated wing commanders, AETC Combat System Officer (CSO):AFI11-402 Aviation and Parachutist Service, Aeronautical Ratings and Aviation Badges , p.2 Summary of Changes (2 February 2013). Retrieved 31 August 2015 awarded by the Commander or delegated wing commanders, AETCAdded 25 September 2007. Under a program that began in the fall of 2004 to replace the "Joint Specialized Undergraduate Navigator Training" course, portions of the previous navigator and electronic warfare officer training courses were combined into a curriculum with the objective of developing an aviator with cross-flow capability between the two positions on combat aircraft. The curriculum includes a wider range of topics, with an increased emphasis on warfighting, to develop leadership, decision-making and mission management skills. Navigators and CSOs wear identical badges. Air Battle Manager (ABM): awarded by the Commander or delegated air control wing commanders, AETCAdded 1 October 1999. RPA Pilot: awarded by the Commander or delegated wing commanders, Air Combat Command,Added 13 December 2010. or Commander, Air Force Reserve CommandCommander AFRC presents to USAF officers who complete RPA Formal Training Unit in conjunction with Undergraduate RPA Training at March Air Reserve Base, California. Observer: awarded by the Senior Air Force Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Badge is identical to that worn by USAF Navigators and CSOs. In current practice, is awarded with the Astronaut distinguishing insignia to those USAF officer astronauts who are not previously rated USAF Pilots or USAF Navigators/CSOs. Although identical to the badge worn by Navigators and CSOs, recipients are not graduates of USAF Navigator or CSO training. Flight Surgeon: awarded by the Commander, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine
Evolution of the USAF ratings system
From the Aviation Act (40 Stat. 243), 24 July 1917:
That officers detailed in or attached to the aviation section of the signal corps may, when qualified therefore, be rated as junior military aviator, military aviator, junior military aeronaut, and military aeronaut ... Provided further, that any officer attached to the aviation section of the signal corps for any military duty requiring him to make regular and frequent flights shall receive an increase of 25 per centum of the pay of his grade and length of service under his commission.Chicago Daily news almanac and year-book for 1918, p. 423. .
Civil ratings Aeronautical ratings were established on 23 February 1912, by War Department Bulletin No. 6, as a new measurement of pilot skill. Before that time most pilots of the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps soloed by the "short hop method" (also known as "grass-cutting"), in which student pilots, flying alone, learned to handle airplane controls on the ground, taxied in further practice until just short of takeoff speeds, and finally took off to a height of just ten feet, gradually working up to higher altitudes and turns. The practice resulted in the first pilot death only a month into training. At least three of these pilots had been previously instructed by Glenn Curtiss at North Island field, California. Concurrently, two pilots (future General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold and Thomas DeWitt Milling) were instructed by the Wright Brothers and certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in July 1911.
Military Aviator To establish formal standards of certification, the Army created the Military Aviator rating and published requirements on 20 April 1912. The first rating was awarded to Henry H. Arnold on 5 July 1912. The first rating requirements were: Attain an altitude of at least 2,500 feet; Pilot an aircraft for at least five minutes in a wind of 15 m.p.h. velocity or greater; Carry a passenger to an altitude of 500 feet, with a combined weight of pilot and passenger of 250 pounds or more, and make a deadstick landing to within 150 feet of a designated point; and Make a military reconnaissance flight of at least 20 miles cross-country at an average altitude of 1,500 feet. Appendix 8.
War Department General Order No. 39, dated 27 May 1913, certified 24 officers including Arnold as "qualified", and authorized issuance of a certificate and badge. A number of designs for the badge were considered before the War Department chose that of an eagle holding Signal Corps flags in its talons, suspended from a bar embossed with "Military Aviator", and had the dies manufactured. A group of 14 aviators still detailed to the Signal Corps was recommended on 29 September 1913 to receive the badge, and the two gold proofs were issued 16 October 1913, to Captain Charles DeF. Chandler and Lt. Thomas D. Milling, both of whom had also received the first ratings with Arnold on 5 July 1912. All 24 officers certified by G.O. 39, or their survivors,One (1st Lt. J. D. Park) was killed in an accident before G.O. 39 was issued, and two (1st Lts. E.L. Ellington and H.M. Kelly) were killed together in the Philippines before theirs were delivered. were eventually issued the badge..
Two levels of qualification were specified in War Department Bulletin No. 35 on 4 May 1914, with aviators below the rank of captain to be rated as Junior Military Aviator and those captain and above to be rated as Military Aviator. Similar ratings were created for the lighter-than-air branch of aviation, termed Military Aeronaut. On 18 July 1914, Congress established the Aviation Section, Signal Corps, incorporating, expanding and superseding the Aeronautical Division, and established in law both flight pay (called the "aviation increase") and the awarding of ratings. The Act of 1914 authorized an aviation increase of 25% in pay to student pilots, 50% to those rated JMA, and 75% to those rated MA. Rated lieutenants who flew "regularly and frequently" were given the temporary rank, pay, and allowances of the next higher grade..
Because a provision also required three years' experience as a JMA in order to become eligible to be rated MA, all remaining Military Aviators had their ratings changed to JMA. None re-acquired the rating (and its "aviation increase") before July 1917.Nine of those whose ratings were reduced and were still in the ASSC were re-rated the MA in July 1917 and four who had left aviation and returned—Arnold, Frank P. Lahm, Joseph E. Carberry, and Robert H. Willis—were awarded the higher rating under the 3-year requirement after a ruling that their time away from aviation also counted. (Hennessey, p. 229) The National Defense Act of 1916 eliminated pilot age and rank eligibility restrictions and allowed captains to also draw the temporary rank, pay, and allowances of the next higher grade if required to participate in regular and frequent flight.
World War I and Air Service revisions