The Flight Meteorologist insignia is a military badge decoration of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

which is issued to officers of the Restricted Line who are commissioned as weather and

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

specialists. To be issued the insignia, an officer must also have completed flight training to qualify as a Naval Aircrew Member. The insignia itself is very similar to the Naval Aircrew Badge. Personnel authorized the Flight Meteorologist insignia are most often assigned to aircraft such as the

P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. It is based on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner by Lockheed; it is e ...

and engage in weather surveillance and airborne monitoring duties. A more dangerous activity of Flight Meteorologists is known as “hurricane chasing”, where a Navy aircraft will fly into a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

in order to gauge wind speed and other environmental measurements. Navy precedence charts also list the Flight Meteorologist insignia as the Naval Aviation Observer Badge. This previous name dates to the original concept of the badge in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s, when the decoration was classified as the Naval Aviation Observer insignia and issued to flight support personnel such as navigators, bombardiers, radar officers, non-

Naval Aviator Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seaborne aviation encompas ...

co-pilots, and other officer aircrew. In the 1940s, a slightly different version of this insignia was briefly issued with a silver compass rose centered on gold wings. Designated as the Naval Aviation Observer (Navigation) insignia, or simply as Naval Navigator wings, it was issued to Navy aerial navigators between 1945 and 1948. After 1948, Navy aerial navigators returned to wearing the Naval Aviation Observer insignia, although the former Naval Aviation Observer (Navigation) insignia continues to be awarded as the Marine Aerial Navigator insignia and Coast Guard Aerial Navigator insignia to Marine Corps and Coast Guard enlisted navigators in the

KC-130 The Lockheed Martin (previously Lockheed) KC-130 is a family of the extended-range tanker version of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The KC-130J is the latest variant operated by the United States Marine Corps (USMC), with 48 delivered ...

and

HC-130 Hercules The Lockheed HC-130 is an extended-range, search and rescue (SAR)/combat search and rescue (CSAR) version of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft, with two different versions operated by two separate service ...

. An insignia similar to that of Flight Meteorologist were Naval Aviation Observer (NAO) wings. NAOs were non-pilot officers in naval aircraft who flew in a variety of roles such as navigator, bombardier, radar intercept officer, tactical coordinator and electronic warfare officer. Distinguishing the NAO insignia was a center device of a silver anchor within a silver circle and it was used by NAOs in both the Navy and Marine Corps from 1929 to 1968. For Navy and Marine Corps aviation officers previously designated as Naval Aviation Observers, these officers were redesignated as Naval Flight Officers in 1966 and their insignia replaced by the current Naval Flight Officer insignia beginning in 1966 and completed by 1968. In the modern Navy, the Naval Aviation Observer insignia is occasionally issued under its original name but is jointly known as the Flight Meteorologist insignia.

See also