The Flight Nurse Badge is a military badge of the United States armed forces which is issued by the U.S. Air Force and United States Navy to flight nurses. Versions of this badge have existed since World War II, when the decoration was first created as the Army Air Forces Flight Nurse Badge.
The Flight Nurse Badge is issued in two different versions, one for the Navy and the other for the Air Force. To be awarded the Flight Nurse Badge, a service member must be a commissioned officer and a Registered Nurse and must also complete training normally befitting the award of the Aircrew Badge. Upon completion of prerequisite training, a service member must complete advanced studies in Aerospace Medicine and be qualified as a military flight nurse. The Flight Nurse Badge is then presented after a probationary period of in-flight instruction and observation.
The Air Force version of the Flight Nurse Badge is issued in three degrees: Basic, Senior, and Master. The Basic Flight Nurse Badge is awarded upon completion of all training and qualification as a flight nurse. The Senior and Master versions of the Flight Nurse Badge are awarded based on years of service in the Air Force and number of flight hours obtained. The different degrees of the Flight Nurse Badge are denoted by a star (Senior level) or a star with wreath (Master level) centered above the decoration.
The United States Navy issues the Flight Nurse Badge in a single degree. None of the other military branches maintains an equivalent to the Flight Nurse Badge. The decoration is similar to the Flight Surgeon Badge.
Famous quotes containing the words flight, nurse and/or badge:
“In all her products, Nature only develops her simplest germs. One would say that it was no great stretch of invention to create birds. The hawk which now takes his flight over the top of the wood was at first, perchance, only a leaf which fluttered in its aisles. From rustling leaves she came in the course of ages to the loftier flight and clear carol of the bird.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Probably if our lives were more conformed to nature, we should not need to defend ourselves against her heats and colds, but find her our constant nurse and friend, as do plants and quadrupeds.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Repose and cheerfulness are the badge of the gentleman,—repose in energy.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)